Rambles in Bible 
Lands . * = = 



ambles in Bible 
Lands = = == = = 

EDITED BV 

C. LANG NEIL 



Illustrated tvith a Series of Original Photographs taken by 
REV. GEO. ROBINSON LEES, B.A., F.R.G.S. 



NEW YORK 



D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

1909 



LC Control Number 




tmp96 026294 



$ 

CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

THE CHANGELESS LIFE OF THE HOLY LAND ... 9 

CHAPTER II 

THE THREE CONDITIONS OF HOLY-LAND LIFE . . 27 

CHAPTER III 

JOPPA AND THE SHEPHAILAH 40 

CHAPTER IV 

JOPPA TO JERUSALEM 73 

CHAPTER V 

JERUSALEM 1 1 5 

CHAPTER VI 

JERUSALEM TO BEER-SHEBA 153 

CHAPTER VII 



BETHEL, MICHMASH, JORDAN YALLEY, EAST OF JORDAN 178 



CHAPTER VIII 

JERUSALEM TO DOTHAN 207 

CHAPTER IX 

GALILEE, JOPPA TO BEYROUT, LEBANON .... 236 

5 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



COLOURED PLATES 



Jerusalem, from Mount Scopus 

A Bedaween Sheikh .... 

Jaffa . . . 

The Orange 

Anemone Coronaria, ' The Lily of the Bible ; 

Bethlehem 

The Lake of Galilee .... 
Nazareth. Towards evening . 



Fro?itispiece 

facing 28 
40 

54 
100 
164 
196 
246 



ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT 



Grinding at the Mill 
Bedaween by Ruins of Samaria 
*Pouring Water on the Hands, 

the Oriental Way of wash 

ing them 
Atal (Burden-bearer, or Porter 

in Zion Street, Jerusalem 
*Scene near Jaffa Gate, Jeru 

salem, etc. . 
*Fellahhat (Village Women) 
Eastern Travellers and Bedaw^ 

Escort .... 
The Feast of Tabernacles 
Joppa (Jaffa), with Orange 

Grove in Front 
The River Kishon . 
Joppa, from the Sea . 



27 

33 
37 

39 
43 
45 



View of the Joppa to Jerusalem 

Railway . 
Well in Courtyard of House in 

Joppa 

* Wayside Fountain near Joppa 
Seat of Custom on the Way to 

Jerusalem 
An Eastern Village . 
A Place of Prayer . 
Site of. Cave of Adullam, as 

identified by Colonel C. R 

Conder, R.E., etc. 
The Kedron Valley . 
The Dome of the Chain 

' Temple Area ' 
The Philistine Country . 
The Water Supply of Jerusalem 



49 

53 
57 

61 

63 
67 



71 
72 

73 
77 

81 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



7 



The Way to Jericho : Eastern 
Ladies travelling ... 85 

Jerusalem and Mount of Olives 89 

Joppa Gate of Jerusalem, seen 
from the Outside . . -95 

A Jewish Family of Jerusalem — 
Four Generations ... 99 

The Traditional Grotto of 
Jeremiah . . . .103 

The Serai, the Pasha's Resi- 
dence at Jerusalem, with the 
Barracks adjoining (the Site 
of Pontius Pilate's Residence 
and the Praetorium) . 107 

Citadel of Jerusalem, the Tradi- 
tional Tower of David . . in 

Jerusalem from the South-East, 
showing the Temple Area, 
with the Kubbet Es Sakhra 
('The Dome of the Rock') 
in the Centre . . 1 13 

Mount of Olives, from Temple 
Area in Jerusalem . 115 

St. Stephen's Gate, the Eastern 
Gate of the City . - . . 117 

Christ Church, Mount Zion, 
Jerusalem, seen in a Snow- 
storm . . . . .121 

^Jerusalem after a Snowstorm, 
a Rare Sight, only seen about 
once in Seven Years . .124 

Sketch Map of Jerusalem and 
the Surrounding Hills . . 126 

The Cattle - Market at Jeru- 
salem . . . .127 



PAGE 

The Kubbet Es Sakhra (' The 
Dome of the Rock') in the 
Harem Esh Shereef ('The 
Noble Sanctuary ; ), the 
Temple Area, Jerusalem . 129 

Interior of Kubbet Es Sakhra 
(' The Dome of the Rock') . 133 

Pulpit in the Mosque of El 
Aksa ^"The Far-orT Mosque') 
in the Temple Area, Jeru- 
salem . . . . 137 

Beggars : a Street leading to 
Jews' Wailing-place, Jeru- 
salem . .- . . 140 

*The Market-place, Jerusalem . 143 

Street from Damascus Gate, 
Jerusalem . . . 147 

Fountain in Jerusalem, near the 
Temple Area . . 155 

Church of the Nativity, Bethle- 
hem ..... 161 

The Pool at Hebron, with the 
Long Mosque with its Two 
Minarets, or Towers, etc. . 167 

Goat-skin Bottle Manufactory 
at Hebron . . . .171 

'Abraham's Oak,' near Hebron 175 

*Caravan fording the River 
Aiyeh 177 

The Church of the Holy Sepul- 
chre, with its Two Domes, 
seen from the Muristan in 
the Foreground . . .179 

Plain of Jericho, near Ain es 
Sultan 183 



8 ILLUSTRATIONS 











Party of Travellers on the Shore 




The Samaritan High Priest dis- 




of the Dead Sea . 


189 


playing an Ancient Samaritan 




*The Kikkar, or ' Round Plain ' 




Roll of the Law of Moses . 


229 


of Jordan (Gen. xiii. 10-12): 




Nablous, the Ancient Shechem 


2 33 


Jericho in the Distance 


191 


The Bay of Acre, looking South 




The Jordan leaving the Sea of 




to the Town of Haifa ('The 




Galilee 


I0 3 


Haven at the foot of Mount 




The Valley of Jezreel under 




Carmel . 


236 


Mount Gilboa . . 


l 9S 


*The Samaritan Passover on 




An Eastern Shepherd and 




Mount Gerizim 


239 


Sheep ..... 


197 


Gideon's Fountain, Ain Jalud . 


245 


A Tributary of the Jordan 


198 


Nazareth 


249 


Roman Road in Gilead . 


199 


The Hill Country . 


2 53 


Natural Bridge in Gilead. 


201 


The Coast of Palestine . 


2 55 


An Ancient Tomb . 


203 


Temple of Sun, Baalbek . 


257 


A Palestine Vineyard 


207 


Largest worked Stone in the 




Ruins of Shiloh 


209 


World in the Quarry at Baal- 




A Palestine Shepherd 


213 


bek, etc. . . . ? .f 


259 


Bedaween Tents 


217 


Ruins of Temple of the Sun at 




^Ploughing .... 


219 


Baalbek, showing an Enor- 




^Threshing Wheat on the 




mous Stone .... 


262 


Open-air Threshing-floor . 


221 


Bscherreh, Nearest Town to 




Interior of Palestine Village 




the Cedars of Lebanon 


265 


House 


225 


Cedars of Lebanon . 


270 



The Illustrations marked (*) are from Village Life in Palestine, by 
the Rev. Geo. Robinson Lees, B.A., F.R.G.S., published by Messrs. 
Longman & Co. 




GRINDING AT THE MILL 



RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



CHAPTER I 

THE CHANGELESS LIFE OF THE HOLY LAND 

The most interesting journey on earth, to those who 
love the Bible, is that which is taken through Bible 
lands. In this, it is true, as in all else, the words of 
the Master especially apply : ' Whosoever hath, to him 
shall be given, and he shall have abundance.' If the 
letter of Holy Scripture is familiar, and, still more, if, 
in addition to this, those works have been mastered 
which deal with its countless Oriental allusions, so 

9 



RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



that the traveller knows where to look and what to look 
for, no language can exaggerate the intense interest of 
such a tour. 

For, though few seem to realize it fully, the Bible 
on its human side — the written Word, like Christ, the 
Personal Word — is at one and the same time perfectly 
divine and perfectly human ; and as to the letter of 
it — that letter through which alone the Spirit speaks — is 
wholly an Oriental gem, with nothing North-Western 
about it. Mr. James Neil, M.A., puts this very clearly. 
1 The Bible [on its human side and as to the letter of 
it] is as much an Eastern book as the Arabian Nights 
Entertainments. It is usual to speak of the Scriptures 
as the simplest and plainest of works. In one sense 
this is beautifully true. Man's ruin, redemption, 
renewal to holiness, and resurrection glory with 
Christ Jesus, are reiterated again and again, so 
clearly that the inquiring soul, taught by the Spirit, 
cannot err as to these essential doctrines. Yet they are 
frequently illustrated and enforced by figurative language, 
embodying facts, ideas, and phrases wholly foreign to 
our daily experience. Thus the honest and thoughtful 
reader finds himself constantly coming upon passages 
that appear unintelligible. In a word, the very thoughts 
and expressions employed by the inspired writers to 
render the subject more lucid are themselves found to 
present new and formidable difficulties ! And the reason 



CHANGELESS LIFE OF THE HOLY LAND 1 1 



for this is plain. The traveller who, for the first time, 
visits the East — the land and home of the Bible — finds 
himself in a new world. It is not too much to say that 
almost everything which surrounds us in England differs 
from the present life of Palestine, a life which bears on 
its simple features the stamp of a hoary antiquity. This 
is the full and simple explanation. 

' It is not that Moses, or David, or Isaiah, or the 
Lord Christ made reference to any abstruse or unusual 
matters : quite the reverse. They drew their countless 
allusions from everyday familiar objects of the very 
simplest kind, far simpler than many have supposed. 
They wrote for the masses. It was the purpose of the 
Eternal Spirit to make revelation exceedingly plain. 
But we are apt to overlook the significant fact that the 
Bible was written by Easterns, in the East, and for 
Easterns. Indeed, a great part of it was zvritten ex- 
clusively for the use of Easterns for many ages. The 
very matters, therefore, which made the sacred volume 
clear to those to whom it was first addressed, make it in 
just the same proportion obscure to us.' 1 

In the purely Oriental parts of Egypt and Palestine 
every sight that is seen, every word that is heard, 
throws light upon the letter of Holy Scripture, 
confirming its minute verbal accuracy, removing its 

1 Palestine Explored, by James Neil, M.A. (Messrs. J. Nisbet & 
Co.), tenth edition, pp. 3-5. 



i2 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



grave difficulties, adding new and unsuspected beauty 
to its narratives and illustrations, giving force to what 
before seemed absolutely meaningless, and making 
everything intensely real. 

Here in these ' morning lands ' the traveller who 
has exhausted the sights and scenes of civilized Europe 
will come upon a new world, where all is strange and 
has for him the charm of perfect novelty, though it 
actually exhibits a life 4,000 years old ! Whatever we 
do, they may be said to do the same thing in another 
way, and they live under an environment foreign to ours 
at all points. Volney, in his Travels in Syria, states 
this very emphatically. He says it is a wonderful thing 
that men of like passions with ourselves and of the same 
Indo-European stock should do everything differently 
from us, and should live under surrounding conditions 
of life foreign to ours at all points. Men with us, when 
they shave, shave their faces, but never their head. 
Throughout the East they never let a razor touch their 
face, but shave the whole of their head till it is perfectly 
bald, save one small lock, left by the Mohammedans on 
the crown. We wear close-fitting, and in most cases 
far from elegant, healthy, or comfortable garments. 
They, on the contrary, wear loose, flowing, most artistic, 
most sanitary, and most elegant clothing — their raiment 
nowhere compressing their person, except where, in the 
case of men, women, and children, the girdle, the zonnar, 



CHANGELESS LIFE OF THE HOLY LAND 13 



or kutntnerbund, is wrapped closely round the waist. 
Hence the significance of the various allusions to 
girding ; for neither work nor war, nor anything calling 
for strenuous, active exertion, is possible with these long, 
loose, flowing garments if the girdle — often left off at 
other times — is not fastened on such occasions firmly 




BEDAWEEN BY RUINS OF SAMARIA 



round the waist. And this in the case of women as well 
as men. For, in doing this, the long kamise — as the 
white, loose, wide-sleeved shirt of the men, the Fellahheen, 
or villagers, and the somewhat similar long, indigo-blue 
robe of the Fellakhat, the village women, is called, 
ordinarily, in the case of both men and women, coming 
down to their heels — is by both men and women, at such 



i 4 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



times as they bind their girdle about them, taken up in 
front from between their feet, and tucked into the girdle 
so as to leave their limbs bare and unimpeded up to the 
knees. When we read of girding, we must think not 
only of their fastening a long, loose, flowing, and impeding 
kamise firmly round them, but also of shortening it from 
a foot to a foot and a half, so as to take it out of the 
way of hindering any active effort. Thus the girdle, 
enabling them in this way to exert their strength, is put, 
by the figure of metonymy, for strength itself. The 
various expressions, 4 She girdeth her loins with strength,' 
said of the industry of the virtuous woman 1 ; the words 
of Hannah's prayer, ' They that stumbled are girded with 
strength ; the exhortation of Peter, 'Gird up the loins 
of your mind, be sober' 3 ; and the Master's earnest 
command, ' Let your loins be girded about, and your 
lights burning, and ye yourselves like unto men that 
wait for their Lord,' 4 can only be fully understood in 
the light of these facts. 

We take off our hats on entering a house or a place 
•of worship, but keep on our footgear. They, on the 
contrary, under such circumstances, take off their shoes, 
but keep on their turbans or other head covering. Thus 
when God at Horeb appeared to Moses in the burning 
bush, to which Moses drew near, the Most High 



Prov. xxxi. 17. 
1 Sam. ii. 4. 



3 1 Pet. i. 13. 

4 Luke xii. 35, 36. 



CHANGELESS LIFE OF THE HOLY LAND 15 



proclaimed His presence by commanding His servant, 
' Put off thy shoes from off thy feet.' 1 But if this had 
occurred here and now, He would have bidden him to 
take off his hat from his head. 

Here women go out into the streets dressed in bright 
colours, whilst men wear garments only of sombre hues. 

1 Exod. iii. 5. 




(POURING WATER ON THE HANDS, THE ORIENTAL WAY OF WASHING THEM 



1 6 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



There the Belladeen, or townswomen, appear in public 
wrapped entirely in a white or incligo-blue azar, or 
sheet ; whilst the men appear dressed in pure colour, 
and in all the tints of the rainbow. Here what is called 
Christian chivalry has given to woman, as the weaker 
vessel, the highest honour, and has made her the leader 
of society. There it is not ' ladies first,' but ' ladies 
last,' or rather 1 ladies nowhere,' for women, even of the 
highest rank, so far from being leaders of society, do 
not appear in society at all. Here there is free inter- 
course between the sexes ; there those of different 
families neither meet nor greet, whether in the streets, 
or at private entertainments, or at public worship. 
If we would realize the Bible allusions to women 
in countless places, both in the Old and New 
Testaments, we must bear in mind that, before the 
change wrought in this respect by the gospel, the 
seclusion of females must, then as now, have involved 
the customs we have just mentioned, which are so 
diametrically opposite to those which exist in modern 
times amongst northern European nations. 

These differences are endless, and it is no exaggera- 
tion to say that all the manners and customs and the 
other affairs of their life are strange to us. It is 
the same with all the natural features of the Orient, 
the outward setting and surroundings of their life — they 
are wholly different from ours. We in the North-West 



CHANGELESS LIFE OF THE HOLY LAND 17 



suffer from excess of moisture, and have, for the most 
part, dull, grey skies, They, on the other hand, suffer 
from excess of drought and heat. This fact alone alters 
all the character of life, affecting the matters of house 
shelter, of clothing, of food, of free' intercourse, of 
atmosphere, of horticultural and agricultural operations, 
of plant and animal life, and countless other matters. 
It needs to be very thoroughly realized by those who 
would fully picture and understand the allusions of so 
entirely Oriental a book as the Holy Bible. When it is 
read we ought, for the most part, in imagination, to see 
such a glare upon the page as to make it hard to dis- 
tinguish the words, and to feel ourselves sweltering in 
the heat ! This alone would give life and reality to 
countless Scriptural allusions, which necessarily lose 
their force in a cold, damp climate. 

Again, all our thunderstorms come in summer, 
seldom or never in winter ; whilst in Palestine and 
Egypt and the adjacent Bible lands all the thunder- 
storms come in winter, seldom or never in summer. 
Thus when Samuel — to punish and humble the people 
for their great wickedness in turning from the glorious 
and sole sovereignty of God to ask for a king, like the 
heathen nations around them — called unto Jehovah, and 
He sent, in the time of wheat harvest, thunder and rain, 
it was not only an astounding, but also a very baneful, 
miracle ; for the corn would be all lying out quite 



1 8 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



unprotected on the open-air threshing-floors, as they never 
put it up in stack or garner it in any way until after it 
is threshed. 1 Talking of wheat harvest, this occurs 
with us after summer, in the early autumn ; but in 
Palestine it comes before summer, in the spring, during 
the month of May, in most parts of the country, and it is 
all over on the highest hills by the end of the second 
week in June ; and in Egypt it occurs four or five weeks 
earlier than in the Holy Land. When, therefore, 
Jeremiah upbraids his people in those affecting words, 
' The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are 
not saved,' 2 he is giving the seasons of the year in their 
true and natural order, to represent the way in which 
the seasons of grace had come to Israel in due suc- 
cession, whilst each in turn had been neglected and lost. 
But in England this sounds quite wrong, and the affect- 
ing image is entirely marred, for here the prophet should 
have cried, ' The summer is past, the harvest is ended, 
and we are not saved.' 

We might go on presenting these striking contrasts 
through a whole volume. In a thousand places, owing 
to the universal strangeness of Oriental life, the Scrip- 
tures, whilst minutely and beautifully accurate when read, 
in the land where and amongst the people by, for, and 
about whom they are written, appear to English people 
unreal, meaningless, or wrong. A knowledge of Bible 
1 i Sam. xii. 16-19. 2 Jer. viii. 20. 



CHANGELESS LIFE OF THE HOLY LAND 19 



lands is therefore of the utmost importance if the letter 
of the Word of God is to be fully understood ; and the 
Spirit only speaks to our minds and hearts through the 
words of this Book, which, on its human side, is wholly 
an Eastern work. 

To few it is given to tread those holy fields and 
to gaze upon scenes alike fascinating in their freshness 
and novelty, in their sacrosanct interest, and, above 
all, in their all-important bearing on the verification 
and the interpretation of the Bible. But in vivid 
descriptions of the land and its life, especially if they 
deal, as in the following pages, with many of its rare 
and out-of-the-way scenes, far more may be gained 
than any ordinary journey of two or three months can 
possibly convey to the average tourist, or indeed, for 
that matter, such a journey lengthened to five or six 
months, though few can hope to enjoy so long a ramble 
in Syria. 

It may occur to thoughtful readers, who take in the 
vast significance of the statement that the life of Bible 
lands remains virtually unchanged from the earliest 
ages, to ask what proof there is that it possesses this 
hoary antiquity, seeing that, if it is so, everything to 
be seen and heard in those parts is an ever-living and 
certain explanation of the true force and meaning of 
the words of Holy Scripture. 

To such we say, first, that this is the universal 



2o RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



tradition of the East. ' The origin of most of their 
customs is so ancient as to be lost in remote ages. 
All that members of the oldest families can say, when 
asked to account for the present habits of the people, 
is, " Our fathers did thus," " It is from ancient times," 
"It always was done so."' 1 They have a word ever 
on their lips in these cases — aadek, meaning ' custom.' 
' Why do you do thus ? ' you ask an Eastern. k Ya 
hhawajah d adna (' O sir, it is our dadeh, our custom '), 
he replies. This ' custom ' binds their life with an 
adamantine chain ; they cannot., dare not, will not 
change. The thing is of God. A wicked man in the 
East, like a wicked man here, will break every moral 
law with impunity, but will never break the customs. 
Life in this way has become absolutely stereotyped 
and changeless ; and when we grasp what this means 
to us, of Bible light to be found in Bible lands, we of 
the restless, ever-changing West may well exclaim, 
' Blessed d adeh ! ' 

The poets say the female mind is fickle, and they 
say it with perfect unanimity ; and it is the poet's very 
life to give true pictures of human motives and conduct. 
Very strongly does Sir Walter Scott put it when, 
poet-like, he is about to pay a high tribute to woman 
for one of her tenderest and most beautiful traits, which 

1 Palestine Explored, by James Neil, M.A. (Messrs. J. Nisbet & 
Co.), tenth edition, p. 16. 




ATAL (BURDEN-BEARER, OR PORTER) IN ZION STREET, JERUSALEM 



22 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 

he sets off and enhances by bringing one of her foibles 

forward first : 

O Woman ! in our hours of ease, 
Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, 
And variable as the shade 
By the light quivering aspen made; 
When pain and anguish wring the brow, 
A ministering angel thou ! 

With fashions of female attire changing almost 
every month, can we possibly doubt the poet's im- 
peachment ? What, then, will our readers think, when 
we state the simple, unquestioned, and, to Europeans, 
extraordinary fact that the bulk of women in Palestine, 
the Fellahhat, or village women, as to colour to a 
shade, as to material to a perfect match, as to style to 
the least particular, dress as their great-great-great- 
grandmothers dressed before them ! Now, if the dress 
of woman has not changed in all the ages, we may 
well believe in the changelessness of the rest ! 

Again, on the many mural inscriptions on monu- 
ments in Egypt, Assyria, and Palestine, some of these 
two, three, and four thousand years old, we see the 
same objects and the same manners and customs which 
meet our gaze everywhere throughout the East to-day. 

But the best proof of all that in Bible lands now 
we have a life at almost all points four thousand years 
old — in those parts which have escaped European and 
cosmopolitan influence, and only these are truly Oriental 



CHANGELESS LIFE OF THE HOLY LAND 23 



— is this, that fact after fact of the present exceedingly 
strange, picturesque, sometimes weird, and always, on 
the face of it, most primitive and simple life of the 
East agrees with the expressions, thoughts, allusions, 
and narratives of the Holy Scriptures. The more we 
know of Oriental life the more we see that the Land 
and the Book answer to one another like the two 
parts of an indenture. This proof, which in time 
becomes perfect and irresistible, is in its very nature 
cumulative. It grows with each new fact that is 
carefully observed, with each new expression we hear 
on the lips of the people, with each new discovery that 
is made, alike in the land and the life. In this way 
one difficulty after another in the Word of God is 
removed, one dark place after another is made light, 
one confirmation of its minute verbal accuracy after 
another is driven home beyond the possibility of doubt. 

Another most remarkable and important feature of 
Eastern lands to which we are entire strangers in 
countries of the North-West is the absolute uniformity 
of their life — a uniformity so abhorrent to Europeans 
and so utterly opposed to the ideas of modern civilization. 
This uniformity or sameness of Oriental life is as 
wonderful as its antiquity. Notwithstanding the nume- 
rous races and religions which have for centuries 
swept in turn over these ruined regions, there remains 
a stereotyped agreement in almost all the common 



24 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



affairs of life. ' If,' says Mr. J. Neil, ' we speak of a 
plough, then from the south of Egypt to the far north 
of Syria, on every farm, this implement is of precisely 
the same make. In every house you visit, the little 
handleless cup out of which you sip your coffee is of 
the same size and pattern, and so are the basin and 
ewer with which the servant of your host, when he 
has girded himself and taken a towel, washes your 
hands. In each class of life both men and women 
respectively dress alike, and, strange as it sounds to us, 
the material, colour, and style of apparel in the rural 
districts are wholly unaffected by any new modes, but, 
in the memory of man, have continued in all respects 
precisely the same! No changing fashions, no progress 
in arts or science, vary, or ever appear to have varied, 
the simple appliances of Palestine. The state of the 
country, viewed in this light, is a standing miracle.' 

There is no exaggerating the importance of this. 
Here in England endless and ever-changing patterns 
of common objects render it impossible to picture 
for certain the thing named, or to understand the 
technical allusion from time to time connected with 
its mention, either in narrative form or in figurative 
language. Here in England, if we speak of 'cement' 
or ' bricks,' then they may be of several different kinds 
and may have been made in several different ways. 
But in the Holy Land only one kind of ' cement ' is 



CHANGELESS LIFE OF THE HOLY LAND 25 

made and only one kind of ' brick,' and the modes of 
manufacturing these have not altered there in any 




BEDAWEEN FALLING ON THE NECK AND KISSING : SCENE NEAR 
THE JAFFA GATE OF JERUSALEM, WITH THE FORTRESS OR TOWER 
OF DAVID ON LEFT 



particular from the dawn of time! In Palestine, when 
they say ' a bed,' ' a lamp,' ' a table,' ' a shepherd's 



26 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



club,' 'a bushel measure,' 'a lamp stand,' 'a house,' 
' a room,' ' a man's cloak,' ' a woman's veil,' and a 
thousand other objects, we know these things are 
always and everywhere the same ; and we can, when 
we are familiarly acquainted with the life of Palestine, 
picture exactly their constant form, and see the full 
and technical force of the allusive reference. In the 
following pages, as we pass rapidly through Bible lands 
and glance at their strange, ancient, uniform life — the life 
without doubt of every chapter of the Bible — the im- 
portance of this will constantly appear. But we trust 
we have said enough to make our readers eager to 
visit the sacred scenes, which have not only the charm 
possessed by all foreign lands, but also that intense 
interest they possess for the lover of the Word of God, 
because they alone can solve its countless difficulties, 
and give reality and fullness of meaning and beauty to 
its every page. 



FELLAHHAT (VILLAGE WOMEN) 



CHAPTER II 

THE THREE CONDITIONS OF HOLY-LAND LIFE 

On entering Egypt, Palestine, or any of the adjacent 
Bible lands, a strange, mingled throng meets your sight. 
But it is most important to be able to separate the 
ancient from the modern, especially in such cos- 
mopolitan towns as Alexandria, Joppa, Beyrout, or 
Jerusalem, and also to distinguish the three con- 
ditions into which all Eastern life is divided. These 
three conditions are not peculiar to any one of the 

many different nations, remains of which are now found 

27 



28 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



in Bible lands, but apply equally to them all. ' The 
first of these is the Belladeen, or dwellers in walled 
towns — towns with walls and gates which are closed at 
night — who have lived there from generation to genera- 
tion, generally in their own freehold houses, and who are 
mostly merchants, tradesmen, and artisans. The second 
is the Fellahheen — that is, " cultivators," or " plough- 
men," "farmers" — the dwellers in settled, unwalled 
villages, who, wherever the ancient customs still prevail, 
from the Sheikh or primitive ruler down to the humblest 
man in the community, possessing oxen to plough, 
are joint owners under the Crown in a kind of freehold 
tenure of the soil which they hold and cultivate in 
common. The third class is the Bedaiveen, or nomad 
Arabs, who roam the deserts, the dwellers in rough, 
dark tents, or, as they call them, "houses of hair," 
consisting as they do of cloths made of goats' or 
camels' hair, sewn together and stretched on rude poles 
by means of cords fastened to long, hardwood tent 
pegs, and who pursue the calling of shepherds and 
herdsmen. Each of these classes, or conditions of life, 
has matters peculiar to itself ; and a distinct knowledge 
of where they agree and how they differ is necessary 
to a full understanding of countless passages of Scripture. 
The Bedaween are the least civilized ; the Fellahheen 
are a little higher in the social scale ; whilst the 
Belladeen, or townsmen, have many comforts and 



BEDAWEEN SHEIKH 



CONDITIONS OF HOLY^LAND LIFE 29 



luxuries unknown to the other two. The Bedaween, 
notwithstanding their simple, gipsy-like life, are a proud 
and noble race, more hardy and war-like than either 
the Fellahheen or Belladeen, upon whom these sons of 
Ishmael look down as from a lofty height. 

4 To take one instance to show the importance of 
carefully distinguishing the different conditions of life 
in explaining Scripture, observe the mention of " coal," 
by which you must always understand " charcoal," the 
only coal of Bible lands. The Fellahheen class, to which 
our blessed Lord and most of His first disciples, as 
dwellers in villages like Nazareth and Capernaum, must 
have belonged, do not commonly use any other fuel 
than wood for heating their houses (which, burnt on the 
stone floor in the midst of the chimneyless room, is, on 
account of the smoke, a trying way of getting warmth), 
and dried cowdung for cooking purposes. 1 To them, 
therefore, " coal " — that is, " charcoal " — would be a great 
luxury. Think of this in connexion with the " fire 
of coals" that had such an attraction for Peter at the 
high-priest's palace — that is, " the brazier of charcoal " 
used amongst the wealthy in towns instead of our modern 
fireplace. 2 Observe the force of it also in connexion 
with that excellent " breakfast " of broiled fish and 
bread which our blessed Lord prepared for His 
disciples. No wonder John noticed with admiration 
1 Ezek. iv. 15. 2 John xviii. 18. 



RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



" the fire of coals," since these poor men were probably 
accustomed to their food being cooked with the usual 
fuel of dried cowdung. 1 So also in the case of Elijah's 
meal (i Kings xix. 6).' 2 

In order to distinguish in any town group the con- 
ditions of life to which the people belong, we have but 
to glance at their clothes. The Bedaween have a white 
cotton shirt, the kamise, and a goats' hair or camels' 
hair cloak — that is, a sackcloth cloak, generally black ; 
they have a girdle, sometimes of leather and some- 
times of silk, around their loins ; their feet, if not naked, 
are shod with sandals, and when riding they wear red 
leather, pointed, turned-up-toed, very short and clumsy 
top-boots, which, like the rest of their loose clothes, are 
not made to fit them. On their heads they wear a large 
scarf, either of coloured fringed silk or else of cotton, 
called a kefeeyeh, bound round their head with a double 
very thick camels'-hair cord called an ' aghal. This 
head-dress, artists say, is one of the most picturesque 
that men wear, and the 'agkal, by tightly binding the 
head and by its wholesome camels'-hair material, is a 
great safeguard against sunstroke. 

The Fellahheen have also a white, or sometimes an 
indigo blue, cotton shirt, or kamise, and over this, when 

1 John xxi. 9. 

2 Strange Scenes, by James Neil, M.A., 120th thousand, pp. 16, 17 
(Messrs. Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.). 



CONDITIONS OF HOLY^LAND LIFE 31 



in full dress, a sack-like, square, sleeveless cloak of 
goats' or camels' hair coming down to their heels, 
consisting of longitudinal brown and white or indigo 
blue and white stripes, called the [aba, ror 'abaiyeh ; a 
leather girdle, either red or uncoloured ; naked feet, 
sometimes, though rarely, shod with a pointed, turned- 
up-toed, red or natural-coloured leather shoe. On 
the head they have a turban, consisting of a white 
cotton skull-cap, with sometimes a white soft felt cap 
under it, above which they have a red cloth fez, or 
tarbush, with a heavy black or indigo blue silk tassel, 
and wound round all a liffey, or shawl. The folds of 
this turban form a very effective pocket-book, in which 
they carry their papers, whilst their purse is a pocket 
on the inside of their girdle or leather belt. 

The Belladeen, or townspeople, dress far more 
elaborately. They have inner drawers of cotton cloth, 
and over these others that are fuller. Above the cotton 
kamise, made in their case of linen or silk, they wear 
a long, loose, dressing-gown-like robe, overlapping 
down the front, called the gumbaz, or kuftau, made 
generally of silk, though sometimes of cotton, and 
always of bright colours arranged invariably in longi- 
tudinal stripes, red and yellow being a very favourite 
pattern. Over this, and gathering all together, they 
have a zonuar, or girdle, of cotton or silk, or else 
of a woollen shawl material, three or four yards long 



32 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



and wound several times round the waist. Above all 
they wear the full-dress cloak known as the jibbeh, 
jukh, or benish — a long, plain, cloth cloak of bright, 
pure colour, coming down to their heels, with short 
sleeves, and often lined throughout with fur. Their 
head-dress is a turban similar to that worn by the 
Fellahheen. For footwear they have socks, an inner 
slipper of soft leather, yellow or black, and over this 
a shoe, broad in the heel, with pointed, turned-up toes, 
of red morocco. There is another and what we may 
call undress costume worn by townsmen, consisting of 
wide, flowing, very large and loose pantaloons, drawn 
together and tied round the waist by a dikky, or cord ; 
a suderiyeh, or waistcoat, without sleeves, buttoned with 
many buttons up to the neck, and over which is worn 
a stout zouave jacket, often of crimson and embroidered 
with gold or silver, called kubran. 

' The wedding garment ' that the king who made 
a marriage-feast for his son presented to his guests 
was this jibbeh, jukh, or benish} The king's life, that 
of the court, would be Belladeen, or town life ; and to 
this day in the East not only kings, but also nobles 
and wealthy commoners, present their guests on such 
occasions with these rich and generally fur-lined, bright- 
coloured, cloth cloaks, in which case they are bound 
to wear them at the wedding festivities. 

1 Matt. xxii. 12. 



CONDITIONS OF HOLY^LAND LIFE 33 

Just as the kefeeyeh> or handkerchief for the head, 




at once points out the Bedaween, and the Fellahheeu are 



RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



recognized by their white cotton shirt, leather belt, 
goats' or camels' hair sackcloth cloak, and naked feet, 
so the Belladeen, or townspeople, are known at a 
glance by their bright striped dressing-gown-like 
gumbaz, or kuftan, their silk, cotton, or woollen girdle, 
their bright cloth cloak, and their wearing both socks 
and shoes. 

The silences of the Bible are very wonderful and 
very divine. Seldom are we told there how any one 
was dressed or how they looked. In this how different 
is the Book of God from the vanity and frivolity of 
modern fiction and modern journalism ! But when- 
ever any mention of clothing is made in Scripture 
it is in order to convey some important truth. When 
John the Baptist entered on his prophetic office, we 
are told of this Elijah-like, desert prophet that ' John 
himself had his raiment [his cloak] of camel's hair, and 
a leathern girdle about his loins.' 1 Now John, the son 
of Zacharias, was a priest, and the priests and the 
Levitical class were specially given forty-eight towns in 
which to reside ; and they were specially forbidden to 
have land — that is, to live in villages as Fellahheen, or 
peasant farmers." In this sense God gave to Aaron 

1 Matt. iii. 4. 

2 Num. xxxv. 1-7 ; Joshua xxi. 1-42. A very small suburb was 
allowed to the priests and Levites round each of the forty-eight cities, 
sufficient for the cattle they had brought, but not large enough to 
supply them with tillage. 



CONDITIONS OF HOLY-LAND LIFE 3 5 



and his sons no inheritance in their land — that is, 4 no 
portion among them ' of broad acres, like all the other 
tribes had, and from which, as peasant farmers, most 
of them lived, just as it is to-day throughout the East 
with the Fellahheen, the bulk of the people. The priests, 
in place of this, were to have the tithes and other 
offerings of the people. 1 Consequently all the priests 
and their families lived the life of the Belladeen, and 
John, until, at thirty, he was called to the prophetic 
office, had therefore worn the rich silk gumbaz and 
the cloth cloak, and the silk scarf or rich woollen shawl, 
zonnar, or girdle, always worn by townsmen. Now we 
may see the full significance of the Holy Spirit's telling 
us that, as he stepped forth a prophet, he was dressed, 
not as a gentleman, as he had hitherto been clad, but 
as a fellahh, a peasant and working man. All the 
prophets were so dressed, no matter what their position 
in life had been before. When Elijah appeared as a 
prophet in the. land of Israel, this was his raiment. 
Ahaziah, asking his messenger, who had met him, what 
he was like, was told, ' A hairy man, and girt with a 
girdle of leather about his loins.' 2 We are told of the 
false prophets that ' they shall no more wear a hairy 
garment to deceive ' 3 — that is, they shall no more dress 
like the Fellakheen, to appear to the people to be 
prophets. Thus the statement that John, the priest, 
1 Num. xviii. 20, 21. 3 2 Kings i. 8. 3 Zech. xiii. 4. 



56 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



the son of Zacharias. had ' his raiment "or cloak] of 
camels hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins." was 
equivalent to saying in a very pointed way that he 
appeared as a prophet. 

Once more, observe how much turns on the clothes 
worn by the people in these different conditions of life. 
Atheists like Charles Bradlaugh have boldly declared 
that the Lord Jesus is the most impracticable of 
religious teachers, and that the world could not be 
carried on upon the principles of the Saviour's first 
recorded discourse in Matt, v.-vii. : and. alas ! his 
words have been echoed by many who profess to be 
believers. This bold blasphemy has been based on the 
words. 1 I say unto you. That ye resist not evil : but 
whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to 
him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at 
the law. and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak 
also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, 
go with him two. Give to him that asketh thee, and 
from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou 
away.' 1 These words they would have us take literally, 
and doubtless if they were meant to be so taken, the 
objection would have some ground. But it is absolutely 
certain that, like so many of our Lord's solemn Oriental 
exhortations, they contain the rhetorical figure of 
hyperbole, or exaggeration, as this Greek word means — 

1 Matt. v. 39-42. 



CONDITIONS OF HOLY^LAND LIFE 37 



the saying of a thing much more strongly than is meant. 
As well might we take our blessed Lord literally when 
He says, ' If any man come to Me, and hate not his 
father, and mother, ... he cannot be My disciple ' 1 ; 
or when He says, 1 Labour not for the food that perishes.' 2 
If you listen to the people all around you in Egypt 




THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES 



and Palestine, you will constantly hear this strong figure 
of hyperbole, or exaggeration, on their lips, and the 
Bible could not be an Oriental book if it were not, as 
it is, frequently there. 

The absolute proof that our Lord was not speak- 
ing literally in this passage in Matthew's Gospel 

1 Luke xiv. 26. 2 John vi. 27. 



38 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



is furnished in the words themselves. Take the 
second of these commands, with regard to the non- 
resistance of evil. The words properly translated are, 
' If any man would sue thee at law, and take away 
thy tunic, or shirt \kiton\, let him have thy cloak 
\himatioii\! Now, we have seen that the Fcllahheen, 
the great bulk of our Lord's hearers, only wear two 
garments — the kiton, or white cotton shirt, and the 
himation, the modern \iba, or 'abayeJu the goats'- or 
camels'-hair cloak ; so that, if our Lord spoke literally, 
He is commanding His followers to do that which would 
cause most of them to go stark naked ! Now, if it is, 
and it must be, figurative in this case, it may be also 
in the other three. All that these strong words mean 
is, ( Don't be ready to resent injuries, or to return blow 
for blow. Don't be litigious ; rather patiently suffer 
wrong. Return good for evil, and so overcome evil 
with good. Be very ready to give to the needy and 
deserving poor.' This, and nothing more, is meant by 
such Oriental utterances ; and so far from such gracious 
teaching being impracticable, nothing could make life 
go better, and conduce more easily and naturally to the 
carrying on of this poor, sin-stricken world. 



TOPPA (JAFFA), WITH ORANGE GROVE IN FRONT 



CHAPTER III 

JOPPA AND THE SHEPHAILAH 

There are two excellent seasons for travelling in 
Palestine, as far as comfort is concerned, and these 
are spring and autumn. In June, July, and August 
the heat is too great for those who are not acclimatized, 
and in December, January, and February, the heavy 
winter rains are very trying. Some rains, though seldom 
very heavy or of long continuance, are encountered in 
March and April, but they give glorious freshness to 
the scenery and floral beauty, and at this time all is 

39 



RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



greenest and best. Hence the bulk of travellers pass 
through the Holy Land between March i and 
May 31. Many come early in February, during which 
month there is very often a fine break in the midst 
of the winter rains, and as on these occasions the sun 
shines brightly, there is no more enjoyable time in 
the whole year, for then the wild flowers are like a 
glorious carpet of colour spread over the greater part 
of the land, and the green of the springing crops, wheat, 
barley, beans, &c, is at its brightest and best. Most 
travellers, however, come during March and April. 

All journeys thirty years ago (and it is the same 
with most journeys now) had to be taken on horseback, 
with tents carried by the party for their lodging at night. 
There is no exaggerating the delight, in fine, warm 
weather, of this way of passing through a country, and 
it is as healthy as it is delightful, for when sleep has fled 
you in all other places, it almost always returns on your 
simple camp-bed in the tent. No wonder nothing can 
make the Bedaween Arabs in the East, or even the 
gipsies here, alter their life, for to one inured to it, it 
gives the highest natural happiness of any that is lived 
on earth. The freedom from care, the constant spice 
of adventure, the close touch with nature, the physical 
exercise that comes in the most natural and pleasant 
way (for nothing can surpass, in value to health, exercise 
on horseback), the natural appetite for food and the 



JOPPA AND THE SHEPHAILAH 41 



power to digest it that come from life day and night 
in the open air, and, above all, the rest and enjoyment 
of living in the present, of which a high civilization has 
so utterly deprived us, — these must be experienced to 
be fully realized. Taken anywhere, such travel to the 
town dweller, wearied out with the tameness, sameness, 
and conventions of modern life, would be most novel 
and delightful ; but amid the entire strangeness of Syrian 
scenes, and their sacrosanct, scriptural interests, with 
Bible pictures to gaze on wherever you look and Bible 
words and phrases to be heard wherever you listen, 
what more of true and refined pleasure to a lover of 
the Bible could earth afford ? 

Most travellers enter Palestine either at Beyrout 
at the north, or Joppa towards the south, though, to 
those who can afford the time and money, the best 
way, after seeing Egypt, would be to come by Israel's 
route to Sinai, and then by the way they took to Kadesh 
Barnea, ' Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin ' (Num. 
xxvii. 14; Deut. xxxii. 51), the Ain Kadis of the 
Arabs, in the uttermost southern borders of Juclah, a 
spring south of Beersheba. 

Joppa, or Yapho, as it is called in the first mention 
of the place, 1 now styled in Arabic Yafa, and by 
Europeans Jaffa, takes its name from the Hebrew word 
yappeh, ' beautiful.' It stands on a little, low, rounded 

1 Joshua xix. 46. 



RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



hill on a flat sandy plain, on the shore of the 
Mediterranean Sea, ' the great sea,' 1 ' the great sea 
westward' 2 of Scripture, in latter times called ' the sea.' 3 
' Deeply, darkly, beautifully blue,' it is a tideless sea, 
there being only the space of one or two feet between 
high and low tide. 

This is, and anciently was, the port of Jerusalem ; 
and yet it is no port at all. If anything of a sea is 
on, it is impossible to land passengers, who have often 
had the annoyance of being taken on to Beyrout and 
back to Port Said and once again to Joppa before they 
could be put ashore, or before the mails could be landed. 
Even in favourable weather vessels have to lie a mile 
or two from the shore. There is a strip of water in 
front of the town from 40 to 50 feet wide and from 
5 to 10 feet deep, surrounded on the sea side by low, 
partially sunken rocks. It has two entrances, scarcely 
more than 10 feet wide — one on the north and the 
other on the west — and the small, broad boats in 
which the passengers and mails are landed need to be 
very carefully steered, even in fine weather, to pass 
safely in ; and it is a yearly scene of loss of life, for 
the least swell makes it difficult and dangerous to 
enter. 

1 Num. xxxiv. 6, 7 ; Joshua i. 4, ix. 1. 

2 Joshua xxiii. 4. 

3 1 Kings xviii. 43, 44. 



RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



Here we may observe, as one of the lessons of the 
first sight of Emmanuel's Land, how thoroughly the 
Israel of God were to be a peculiar and separated 
people, shut off from contact with the idolatrous 
nations around them. This inaccessible and dano-erous 
approach, where often for days at a time no one could 
land, was the one way by sea of reaching Jerusalem. 
' Strait 5 indeed was ' the gate ' by which Sion could 
be approached seaward, and when this was passed in 
safety, there were forty miles of road, through three 
mountain passes, a road little better than a goat-track, 
to be traversed ere the city could be entered. ' Certainly 
never did port and metropolis more strikingly resemble 
each other in difficulty of approach both by sea and 
land.' How different from the capital cities of the Gentile 
powers, which have been placed wherever it has been 
possible in the most accessible situations, at the estuaries, 
or on the banks, of wide, navigable rivers, where they 
could invite and enjoy intercourse with the surrounding 
nations. Let us never forget the important spiritual 
lesson, which we are being tempted to do on all sides 
in this worldly age, for Israel in this was a type of 
the Church of Christ now. In speaking of our high 
calling, Peter says, ' Ye are a peculiar people,' 1 and Paul 
says the same, solemnly affirming that ' our great God 
and Saviour Jesus Christ ' ' gave Himself for us, that 

1 i Pet. ii. 9. 



JOPPA AND THE SHEPHAILAH 45 



He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto 
Himself a peculiar people.' 1 This is the indispensable 
condition of enjoyed sonship in the family of God. 
' Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye 
separate, saith the Lord, and touch not anything 




JOPPA, FROM THE SEA 



unclean ; and I will receive you, and will be a Father 
unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith 
the Lord Almighty.' 2 

One naturally asks why this very ordinary town 

1 Tit. ii. 13, 14. 

2 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18. Sec also vv. 14-16. 



46 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



Joppa should be singled out from so many others (as 
shown by its name), as an eminently beautiful spot. Mr. 
James Neil gives us the answer in his Strange Scenes} 
He says : ' Let me show in what its beauty consists. 
There is nothing grand or lovely in the town or its 
site, or in the form of the surrounding country ; and a 
freethinker sailing by might well come home and declare 
that it in no way answered to its Hebrew name. But 
it is exceedingly beautiful for all that, in a way which 
you only come to comprehend when you are thoroughly 
acquainted with its surroundings, on account of the 
glorious groves of oranges, with mingled lemons, sweet 
lemons, citrons, date-palms, bananas, pomegranates, 
apricots, quinces, and all manner of precious and graceful 
fruit trees, that extend for three miles behind and 
around the little town. The orange, which forms the 
principal produce of these rich, semi-tropical bayarahs, 
or orchards, is a noble, evergreen tree which is in full 
bearing at mid-winter, and is one of the choicest and 
most vigorous members of the vegetable kingdom, a 
veritable 41 tree of life." The chief scene of its cultivation 
in Syria is, and seems always to have been, here at 
Joppa, 2 to which it has lent such glorious beauty, for, 

1 Strange Scenes, by James Neil, M.A., 120th thousand, pp. 3-7 
(Messrs. Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.). 

2 The only other spot in Palestine where the orange has long been 
largely cultivated is at Sidon, farther north, in somewhat similar position 
and climate to Joppa, on the Mediterranean shore. 



JOPPA AND THE SHEPHAILAH 47 



throughout universal nature, it would be difficult to find 
anything fairer to behold than an orange grove in full 
bearing. The heavy perfume of these groves, brought 
out in perfection by the alternately subtropical rain and 
subtropical sunshine of this hot shore, when an east 
wind is blowing, is borne seaward, and meets the 
traveller on board ship four miles before he reaches 
Joppa! Here, among the doves, wild pigeons, and 
other birds that haunt this ideal spot, is the lovely little 
suweid of the Arabs, an Atrican wanderer, found in 
Syria only here and in the Jordan Valley, " darting about 
like a little black wren, but resplendent, when seen close, 
with all the colours of the prism." These gardens are 
divided by many narrow lanes, bordered by splendid 
ancient hedges of cactus [Cactus ficus indica), sometimes 
1 5 feet high, the sea-green hue of which well sets off 
the dark rich green of the orange, and which bears 
a mass of handsome yellow flowers, and, later on, yellow 
and pink, elongated, cone-shaped, cooling, and nourishing 
fruit.' 

Colonel Conder, R.E., has pointed out that these 
suburbs of Joppa owe their splendid fertility to a wide 
underground river flowing beneath the plain of Sharon 
to the sea. The water is tapped by wells, or bores, 
some 10 feet in diameter by from 50 to 80 feet deep, 
and then what is needed for irrigation is drawn up by 
means of two rude, wooden wheels, working an endless 



4 8 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



band, to which a number of small buckets are attached. 
' He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his 
seed shall be in many waters,' is an allusion to this 
sakkiek, or well-wheel. 1 In these words Balaam foretells 
that Israel shall derive much wealth and comfort from 
the culture in Palestine of ' watered gardens,' orchards, 
and vineyards of red. wine ; to the first of which, ' watered 
gardens,' because they are the most frequently to be 
met with of the three, for their wealth of fruitfulness 
and beauty, the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah after- 
wards likened their happy life in the glorious coming- 
age : 

Their soul shall be like a watered garden. 2 

The burning, rainless, continuous heat and drought 
for six months running, from the end of April to the 
end of October, make it impossible to have a garden 
of any value in Palestine unless it is thoroughly irrigated, 
at least once a week ; and possible, when thus supplied 
with ' the water of life,' to have one that is green and 
fruitful almost all the year round, yielding no less than 
four crops, and the varied products of almost all 
temperate and subtropical climates ! 

In these ' watered gardens ' — and it is the same in 
the bayara/is, or orange groves, for the orange needs 
irrigating in like manner at least once a week through- 

1 Num. xxiv. 7. 

2 Jer. xxxi. 12. See also Isa. lviii. 11. 



JOPPA AND THE SHEPHAILAH 



out the hot season — the labourers, all of whose limbs 
are naked, work almost as much with their feet as 
their hands. The ground is always divided into little 
plots about 12 feet square, surrounded by tiny trenches 
about a spit deep, and when turning the rills from 




VIEW OF THE JOPPA TO JERUSALEM RAILWAY 



the main stream into each of these, the gardener kicks 
a hole with his naked foot into the trench through the 
lightly turned-up soil, and after sufficient water has 
run past, he stops up the breach in the same simple 
fashion. Hence when Moses, speaking of Egypt, says 
to Israel, ' Thou wateredst it with thy foot, like a 



50 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 

garden of green vegetables,' 1 he simply alludes to the 
important fact that, in the rainless land of the Pharaohs, 
farm-culture needs irrigation, natural or artificial, in the 
same way as garden-culture requires it in the more 
favoured climate of Palestine, where sufficient rain falls 
to raise the main crops. These garden and orchard 
irrigation-trenches are called in the Hebrew Bible 
peleg, which is quite wrongly rendered ' river ' in our 
Authorized Version and in most places in the Revised 
Version, 

The Psalmist says of the man who delights in the 
Word of God : 

He is like a tree planted by the irrigation-trenches of water — 2 

that is, a tree planted in a rich irrigated garden or 
orchard. Proverbs xxi. i loses all its force in this way 
as it stands in our Authorized Version : 

The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water : 
He turneth it whithersoever He will. 

A river is not easily turned in any direction. But it 
should be : 

The king's heart is irrigation-trenches in the hand of Jehovah : 
He turns it whithersoever He will. 

The Palestine gardener, as we have seen, kicks a hole 
with his naked foot in the loose bank of earth and lets 
the water run into another trench, and when that has had 

1 Deut. xi. io. 2 Ps. i. 3. 



JOPPA AND THE SHEPHAILAH 51 



enough, he dams it up again with his foot with the greatest 
ease. Thus readily can Almighty God turn the heart 
of a king — that is, an unapproachable, tyrannical Eastern 
despot, a monarch even such as Ahasuerus, whose own 
favourite wife runs the risk of being instantly killed 
by his order, if she enters his presence unbidden ! 1 

Before leaving these delightful Joppa gardens, laden 
for miles with their rich produce of golden oranges, 
let it be said that the ' apple ' of Scripture, about 
which there has been so much dispute, is undoubtedly 
this tree. 2 The ' apple ' (tappooahli) of our Bible may 
be known by five certain marks of identification. 
First, bearing fruit of a golden colour, ' apples of 
gold ' 3 ; secondly, a natural molten silver, or white, 
surround to the golden fruit, 

Apples of gold in network [or framework] of silver 3 ; 

thirdly, a peculiarly rich fragrance, and that in a land 
where they delight in the most powerful perfumes, 

The fragrance of thy nostrils is like the apples 4 ; 
fourthly, a dense, sheltering foliage, 

I sit down under his shadow with great delight 5 ; 

1 Esther iv. 1 1-16. 

2 See the full discussion of this point in Palestine Explored, ioth 
edition, pp. 185-6 and 200-4 ; also Mr. James Neil's two letters to 
The English Churchman, March 29 and April 5, 188S, proving that the 
orange was cultivated in Palestine in ancient times. 

3 Prov. xxv. 11. 4 Cant. vii. 8. 5 Cant. ti. 3, 



52 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



and lastly, sweet, luscious, thirst-quenching fruit that 
may be freely eaten, 

His fruit is sweet to my taste. 1 

Now, these five marks meet in the orange, each 
in the highest degree, and in that tree alone. This 
wonderful tree of life bears, often for hundreds of 
years (it does not come into full bearing till it is a 
hundred years old) an immense quantity (sometimes 
26,000 oranges) of handsome, nourishing, sweet, thirst- 
quenching, and highly medicinal fruit, a mass of beautiful 
and exceedingly fragrant flowers, and an abundance of 
thick, shining, rich green leaves, all on the tree together 
tJirottghout a great part of the year, and especially that 
part, winter, zvhen other trees stand bare. Addison 
notices this remarkable feature of its wonderful vitality 
in a paper on 'A Fine Garden,' in No. 445 of the 
Spectator, The boundless vitality of the orange well 
fits it to be the emblem of the Lord Christ, who is 
4 the Life ' itself — Essential Life — and who came that 
we, though ' dead in trespasses and sins/ might have 
this Life from Him, and 'have it abundantly.' 2 

As an orange tree amongst the trees of the rocky-mountain-foresf, 
[ya'ar], 

So is my beloved among the sons. 
I sit down under his shadow with eager desire, 
And his fruit is sweet to my taste. 3 

1 Cant. ii. 3. 2 John i, 4 ; x. 10 ; xi. 25. 3 Cant. ii. 3. 



JOPPA AND THE SHEPHAILAH 53 

The word in the Hebrew, ydar y exactly the same 
as the modern Arabic zvaar, is the technical name 
tor the dry scrub, or bush, on the rocky mountains of 




WELL IN COURTYARD OF HOUSE IN JOPPA 

Palestine, with here and there a forest tree. The 
contrast in the original is very line between the fruit- 
less trees of the dry. rocky uplands and the glorious 



RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



orange, which would never naturally find a place there. 
So much 'fairer than the sons of men' is Jesus, 'the 
chief among ten thousand, the altogether lovely,' whose 
sheltering blood and righteousness have made for His 
poor people a life-giving and delightful shade, whilst 
they feed on Him by faith in their hearts, 'who is 
the bread of life sent down from heaven,' the glorious 
antitype of the tree of life in the midst of the lost 
Paradise, of the fruit of which we may now eat and 
live for ever ! 

Its singularly reviving and refreshing scent, which 
under the alternately subtropical heat and subtropical 
rain is one of the strongest in nature, sheds a flood of 
light on a passage which would otherwise be without 
any meaning, and has greatly puzzled the commentators. 
In our version it is : 

Comfort me with apples, 
For I am sick of love. 1 

But the word rendered comfort, raphad, which occurs 
here, in the only two other passages where we find 
it, 2 means to 'spread,' or 'strew'; hence it should 
be ' strew me,' not ' comfort me.' Observe it is the 
bride in the Song of Songs who is represented as 
using these words when faint with emotion. Now 
the idea of spreading over a bride under such circum- 



1 Cant. ii. 5. 



2 Job xvii. 13 ; xli. 30. 




THE ORANGE. 

'Apples of gold in framework of s\\\ex.'—Fyoverbs xxv. 11, 



JOPPA AND THE SHEPHAILAH 



stances branch, blossom, or fruit of the apple tree 
possesses no significance whatever. But if we supply 
the name of the true tree, do we not at once see the 
striking appropriateness of the exclamation of the 
bride, 4 Strew me with orange ' ? This is just what is 
done with a bride down to the present day ; and here, 
surely, in the bridal song of the Bible, we have the 
often-inquired-for, natural, Eastern origin of the 
customary bridal wreath. Still more, we have the very 
reason for its adoption in the lands from which it first 
came — namely, that its pungent perfume serves, as 
here a smelling-bottle does, to revive some sensitive, 
fainting maiden ! 

Observe, too, in the light of this explanation, the 
beauty of that proverb which tells of the excellence of 
graceful and gentle speech : 

A word spoken on its wheels 

Is like oranges \tappoohheem\ of gold in network [or 
framework] of silver. 1 

The flowers and fruit, I have said, continue on 
the tree together in rich abundance. The blossom 
of the orange is a brilliant white, resembling the hue 
of molten silver, which is so much prized in the 
jewellery of the East. Owing to its wondrous vitality, 
the very last of its fruit will be seen framed in these 



1 Prov. xxv. ii, 



56 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



fine white flowers. As the ripe fruit is constantly seen 
standing out amidst clusters of the shining bloom, it is 
naturally, to a vivid Oriental imagination, ' like oranges 
of gold in network [or framework] of silver.' ' A word 
spoken on its wheels' means 'a smooth, courteous 
word,' that is, as we say (and the idiom is in every 
European language), ' flowery speech,' which men 
value so highly in lands like Syria, and carry to the 
extreme of countless formal compliments and much 
fulsome flattery. But, while avoiding excess and 
insincerity, well is it for us when, in all our intercourse 
with others, the golden orange of good matter is seen 
set off by the fair silvern flowers of a good manner ! 
Some earnest believers do not attach to this subject 
the importance it undoubtedly deserves, for is not 
' Be courteous ' a direct command of the gospel ? 1 

Joppa is one of the oldest towns in the world. In 
the distribution of the land under Joshua it was given 
to the tribe of Dan. 2 In 1855, on the carved lid of a 
stone sarcophagus found in the ancient cemetery of 
Sidon, was discovered a long Phoenician inscription, 
which is the statement of the deceased, who is styled 
' King Ashmunazer, the King of the Sidonians, son 
of Tabnith, King of Sidonians,' and amongst other 
statements, he tells us that the gods Baal-Sidon and 
' Astarte, the glory of Baal,' had bestowed on him ' Dor 
1 t Pet. iii. 8, 2 Joshua xix. 46. 



JOPPA AND THE SHEPHAILAH 57 



and Joppa, and ample corn lands at the root of Dan.' 1 
So Joppa was then a part of the Phoenician dominions, 
and it seems plain from the account in the Book of 
Judges that Dan, under its former name of Laish, 
belonged to Sidon, or Zidon, at the time of the Danite 




WAYSIDE FOUNTAIN NEAR JOPPA 



excursion. The treacherous violence of Dan, in falling 
upon ' Laish,' upon 'a people quiet and secure,' putting 
the inhabitants to the sword and burning their city, 
they having ' no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon,' 

1 The Land and the Book, by W. M. Thomson, D.D., pp. 137-9 
(T. Nelson & Sons). 



58 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



or Sidon, may have been partly by way of reprisal 
for the Sidonian capture of Joppa. 1 

Joppa was in the Philistine country, including the 
five important Philistine cities Gath, Ekron, Ashdod, 
Gaza, and Ascalon. 2 Of these Joppa and Ascalon were 
situated on the shore, and the others on hills withdrawn 
from the coast, Gath, now identified as Tell es Safi, 
a ruin some five miles from Beit Jibrin, and Gaza, 
Ashdod, and Ekron still retaining their names and still 
inhabited spots, surrounded by fine gardens. This 
maritime plain from Joppa to Gaza is one of the districts 
conquered to some extent by Joshua, and called the 
Shephailah, or ' Level Down,' the ' Low Country.' 3 It 
was, and is, a most fertile corn land, scarcely second to 
Egypt ; and at its southern portion, near Gaza and 
Gerar (now Um Jerar), seems to have borne the name 
of 'the land of Goshen,' 4 probably so called from its 
being, like the home of Israel in Egypt, a land of 
plenty. It probably extended from Beersheba to Gaza, 
and ran some way north. It was here that Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob, as sheepmasters and herdsmen, 
acquired their great wealth. We are especially told 
that at Gerar, the modern Um Jerar, ' He sowed in 

1 Judges xviii. 27, 28. 

2 Joshua xiii. 3. The inhabitants of Gath were called Gittites 
(2 Sam. vi. 10, 11, xv. 18, 19, 20, xviii. 2, xxi. 19; 1 Chron. xiii. 
13, xx. 5). 

3 Joshua x. 40, xi. 16. 4 Joshua x. 41, xi. 16. 



JOPPA AND THE SHEPHAILAH 



that land and received in the same year a hundredfold,' 1 
a return which, it is said, the crops still make in that 
prolific region. There it was we are told of ' the son 
of promise ' that ' the man waxed great, and went 
forward and grew until he became very great.' The 
phrase here ' went forward and. grew ' is the well-known 
Hebrew figure of Hendiadys for 4 grew continually.' 2 

We have said that this Philistine country was 
conquered 1 to some extent ' by Joshua, for we are told 
of Judah, to whose lot fell the south portion of the 
Shephailah, with the land of Goshen, ' Jehovah was with 
Judah, and he possessed the mountains [or 'highland,' 
'the hill country of Judah']; but he could not drive 
out the inhabitants of the Shephailah, because they had 
chariots of iron,' 3 which would make them very formid- 
able on this level plain. These 4 inhabitants of the 
Shephailah ' were the warlike Philistines who were 
such a 4 thorn in the side ' of Israel, until they were 
smitten and subdued by David. This formidable people, 
as their name Philistine implies, were ' strangers ' in 
Syria — strangers from beyond the western sea, having 

1 Gen. xxvi. 6, 12. 

- It is the same grammatical figure in Gen. viii. 3, £ The waters 
were going and returning from off the earth ' — that is, ' were returning 
from off the earth continually'; and again in Gen. viii. 5, 'The 
waters were going and decreasing ' — that is, were ' decreasing con- 
tinually.' 

3 Judges i. 19, 



6o 



RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



come either from Captor (which, according to the 
Septuagint, is Cappadocia, in Asia Minor), or else 
from the island of Crete, as their other name, 
Cherethites, 1 seems to imply. Here, on the maritime 
plains of Southern Syria, they kept up their ancient 
seafaring worship of the fish-god Dagon, for the 
Hebrew word 'Dagon' means 'great fish.' This idol 
had stately temples at Gaza and' Ashdod. 2 In pagan 
records we learn that the fish-goddess Derceto was 
worshipped at Ascalon. 3 Near Jaffa, too, there would 
seem to have been a centre of this idolatry, for the 
modern village of Beit Dejan is the Arabic form of 
'house, or temple, of Dagon.' But Joppa, or Jaffa, in 
Dan, appears to have been, together with the rest of 
this northern part of Philistia, fully conquered by 
Israel. Here Dan 'remained in ships,' which must 
have been at his one port at Joppa, when this tribe 
ought to have joined with its northern and central 
brethren in driving out the Canaanite host under Sisera. 4 
It is, as has been pointed out, a ' curious fact that 
from this foreign and hostile race [the Philistines] the 
Holy Land acquired the name by which it is most 
commonly known in the Western world. Palestine, 
or "the land of the Philistines," was the part of Judea 

1 Zeph. ii. 5. 

2 1 Sam. v. 1, 2 ; Judges xvi. 21-3 ; 1 Mace. x. 84. 

3 Diodorus Siculus, ii. 4. 4 Judges v. 17. 



JOPPA AND THE SHEPHAILAH 61 



with which the Greeks were first and chiefly acquainted, 
as they followed in the track of the Egyptian Pharaohs 




- 4 



SEAT OF CUSTOM ON THE WAY TO JERUSALEM 

and Ptolemies along this narrow strip of Syria, or as 
their vessels may occasionally have touched at Jaffa. 
Thus the title of " Philistia," or " Palestine," was 



62 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



transferred from the well-known frontier to the unknown 
interior of the whole country.' 

It has been well said, ' The most striking and 
characteristic feature of Philistia is its immense plain 
of cornfields, stretching from the edge of the sandy 
track right up to the very wall of the hills of Judah, 
which look down its whole length from north to south. 
These rich fields must have been the great source at 
once of the power and value of Philistia, the cause 
of its frequent aggression on Israel, and of the unceasing 
efforts of Israel to master the territory. It was, in 
fact, " a little Egypt." As in earlier ages the tribes 
of Palestine, when pressed by famine, went down to 
the valley of the Nile, so in later ages, when there 
was a famine in the hills of Samaria and the plain of 
Esdraelon, the Shunammite went with her household 
"and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven 
years." 1 In that plain of corn and those walls of rock 
[the mountains of Judah] lies the junction of Philistine 
and Israelite history, which is the peculiarity of the 
tribe of Dan. . . . These are the fields of " standing 
corn," with " vineyards and olives " amongst them, 
into which the Danite hero Samson sent down " the 
three hundred jackals " 2 from the neighbouring hills. 

1 2 Kings viii. 2. 

2 Judges xv. 4. The word here rendered ' foxes ' in our version, 
shualeem, is ' jackals.' 



JOPPA AND THE SHEPHAILAH 63 




AN EASTERN VILLAGE 



In the dark openings here and there seen from far 
in the face of these blue hills were the fortresses of 
Dan, whence Samson " went down " 1 into the plain. 
Through these same openings, after the fall of Goliath, 
the Philistines poured back and fled to the gates ot 
Ekron, 2 and through these the milch kine, lowing as 
they went, carried back the ark to the hills of Judah. 3 
In the caves which pierce the sides of the limestone 
cliffs of Lekieh and Deir-Dubban on the edge of the 
plain may probably be found the refuge of Samson in 
the " cliff" Etam, before his victory with the jaw- 

1 Judges xiv. i, 5, 7. 2 1 Sam. xvii. 52. 3 1 Sam. vi. 12. 



64 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



bone, 1 as afterwards of David in the cave of Adullam. 2 
It is not often that on the same scene events so 
romantic have been enacted at such an interval of 
time as the deeds of strength which were wrought in 
this plain by him " before whose lion ramp the bold 
Askalonite fell," and those of our Cceur de Lion.' 3 

To return to Joppa, we recall that it was to this 
port, the only one along the whole shore south of 
Carmel, that the cedar-trees were brought in floats 
by Solomon from Lebanon. In later times an artificial 
port was built by Herod at Caesarea. From this port 
it was that Jonah fled from the presence of Jehovah 
to avoid a trying mission to Nineveh, taking his passage 
on a ship sailing to Tarshish. 4 It was here at Joppa 
that the gracious and kindly disciple Tabitha, or, as 
her name means in Greek, Dorcas — both these words 
mean ' gazelle ' — did such works of mercy for the 
poor of the Church, and was raised from the dead by 
the Apostle Peter. 5 

Here it was that, after this event, Peter stayed for 
many days with Simon the tanner/' in a house close to 

1 Judges xv. 9-17. We read, Samson ' went down and dwelt in the 
cleft of the cliff of Etam ' (Judges xv. 8) ; and when he had allowed 
himself to be bound by the men of Judah, they ' brought him up from 
the rock' (Judges xv. 13). 

2 1 Sam. xxii. 1. When visiting David in the cave of Adullam, his 
brethren and father's house, it is said, ' went down thither unto him.' 

3 Sinai and Palestine, by A. P. Stanley, D.D., pp. 258, 259. 

4 Jonah i. 1-3. 5 Acts ix. 36-42. 6 Acts ix. 43. 



JOPPA AND THE SHEPHAILAH 65 



the shore. 1 Whilst staying in this house, one day at 
noon he went up on the flat roof to pray, and, 
becoming very hungry and eager for the meal they 
were preparing in the house, fell into a trance, and 
had that important prophetic vision in which it was 
revealed to him that 'the middle wall of partition' 
was now broken down, by the doing away with the 
positive commandments of the law, its civil and cere- 
monial precepts, so that Jew and Gentile might now 
be one body in Christ. Thus when, immediately 
afterwards, the deputation from Cornelius, the God- 
fearing Roman captain of the Italian band, arrived to 
request Peter to come to Caesarea and preach the 
gospel to him and his household, Peter knew, for the 
first time, that it was the will of God, who ' is no 
respecter of persons,' tha*: Gentiles as well as Jews 
were to have a place in the Church of the first-born. 
It was at this port, or 'gate,' of the literal Zion that 
it was revealed through Peter to the disciples of Christ 
that the gate of the heavenly Zion was now, by His 
redeeming work, opened to believers out of every 
kindred, tongue, and nation. 2 

On landing in Palestine, one finds that the language 
of this part of Syria is Arabic, though many tongues 
are heard — German, French, Spanish, Italian, Turkish, 
and others ; indeed, the assistants in the shops here and 
1 Acts x. 6. 2 Acts x. 1-48. 

5 



66 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



in other towns, especially Jerusalem, can speak ten 
languages, though for the most part they are ignorant 
of the grammar and literature of any. In northern 
Syria the language is Syriac. Both Arabic and Syriac 
are closely related to Hebrew, and have in a great 
many cases the same roots ; and so the colloquial speech 
of the natives, which needs to be much more studied 
than it has been, throws a flood of light on difficult 
expressions in the Old Testament. 

A striking feature in the colloquial speech of 
Palestine and the adjacent Bible lands is the use of 
pious expressions, to be met with on the lips of all on 
almost every occasion. 1 With us,' says Mr. Neil, ' the 
name of God, except by the openly profane, is but 
seldom and reverently mentioned, and we avoid filling 
our conversation on all occasions with direct references 
to His person, character, and providence. In the East, 
on the other hand, the name of Deity, and countless 
pious ejaculations, are constantly on the lips of the 
careless masses. The baker in the street, a man 
answering to our costermonger, hawks his loaves with 
the words, " O Thou All-bountiful ! O God ! Fresh 
bread! O Thou All-bountiful i " Indeed many other 
trades are distinguished by the constant use of some 
one of the ninety-nine Mohammedan attributes of 
God, all scriptural and beautiful, which end with the 
most sacred of all, Hoq — that is, " He?" which stands 




A PLACE OF PRAYER 



68 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



for " He is," evidently a form of the " I AM " of the 
Bible. 

' Is a man astonished? — he exclaims in mingled sur- 
prise and admiration, " Mashallah J — that is, " Ala asha 
Allah/" (" What has God wrought! "). Few expressions 
are more constantly on the lips of the people, and it is 
startlingly lifelike to hear Balaam, almost 3,500 years ago, 
declare that, in the day of their final deliverance, it shall 
be said to Jacob and Israel by the wondering Gentile 
nations, " What has God wrought!" 1 If they see any 
new and curious piece of workmanship, they will cry in 
astonishment, " Oh, work of God ! " This expression 
" work of God " is the Hebrew superlative for " very 
great, or wonderful, work." 2 You ask a man if he 
intends to do something, and instead of saying, " Yes," 
he says, " Inshallah" ("If God will"). 

' Do you ask after a man's health, " How do you do ? " 
instead of replying, as with us, " Very well, thank you," 
he invariably answers, if in good health, " B 'chair, 

1 Num. xxiii. 23. 

2 Thus Abraham is called ' a prince of God ' for ' mighty prince ' 
(Gen. xxiii. 6) ; Rachel speaks of her ' wrestlings of God,' for ' mighty 
wrestlings' (Gen xxx. 8); 'voices of God' are 'mighty sounds' — i.e. 
' thunders ' (Exod. ix. 28) ; ' mountains of God ' are ' mighty moun- 
tains ' (Ps. xxxvi. 6); 'cedars of God' are 'lofty cedars' (Ps. lxxx. 
10); 'a son of God' is 'a mighty person ' (Dan. iii. 25, &c.) ; 'sons 
of God' are 'mighty persons' — i.e. 'angels' (Job i. 6); 'a city of 
Jehovah ' applied to wicked Nineveh is ' a mighty city ' (Jonah iii. 3). 



JOPPA AND THE SHEPHAILAH 69 



Hamd-ul-illah ! '(" Very well, thank God! "). Our " Good- 
morning " in Arabic is "Your morning in goodness" 
(" Subahkoom bil kheer"), to which the proper answer is, 
" May God make your morning happy ! " On bidding 
your host good-bye, you say, " Khaterkoom" (" By your 
leave ") ; to which he replies, " Ma es Salameh " ("With 
peace"), 1 and adds, "God smooth your way!" or else, 
''Allah yassellemak /" ("May God give you peace!"). 
The guests on leaving a wedding will say, " God give 
the newly married ones an arees ! " (" a bridegroom "), 
which is as much as to say, " May they have a son who 
shall grow up to be married, and not a daughter." 
On the birth of a son, after congratulating the father, 
the usual complimentary formula is added, " May that 
which has come to thee be blessed ! " ; to which he 
joyfully replies in the set phrase, " May God also 
bless you ! " The babe will be held up to you to admire 
by its doting grandmother with the words, " Behold the 
gift of God ! " a Very beautiful is the usual way of asking 
after the health of the children, " How are the preserved 

1 Compare the following : ' We have sent thee away in peace ' 
(Gen. xxvi. 29); 'Get you up in peace to your father' (Gen. xliv. 17) ; 
'Go in peace' (2 Kings v. 19); 'Set him forward on his journey in 
peace' (1 Cor. xvi. n) ; ' Depart in peace' (Jas. ii. 16). 

2 Compare — 

Lo, sons are a heritage from Jehovah : 
The fruit of the womb is [His] reward 

(Ps. cxxvii. 3) ; also ' I and the children whom Jehovah has given 

me' (Isa. viii. 18; Heb. ii. 13). 



;o RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



of God ? The farmer, coming to his workpeople, will 
say, "God be with you ! " {"Allah mdkoom /"), to which 
they will reply, " God bless thee ! " 2 and he will add, " May 
He strengthen your bodies ! " Does a host see his guest 
drinking at dinner, he will say to him, as politeness 
requires, with a temeeneh, or Eastern bow, " Digestion " ; 
and the guest, temeenehing in return, says, " May the 
Lord increase your digestion ! " On bidding a guest 
farewell, the host says, "May God lead you in the way ! " 
or " May God make you a straight path ! " 3 The uni- 
versal way of refusing alms to a beggar is to say, " Pass 
on ; God will o-ive thee." A goiest is still invited to enter 
with the words, "Come in, thou blessed of the Lord," 4 ' 
by men of just as little true piety as Laban of old. 

'If an Arab child offers you water by the roadside, 
it will say, " May God make it refreshing to you"; to 
which the customary reply is, " May God preserve you !" 
When passing by a richly laden fruit tree or a field 
with an abundant crop, an Arab, addressing the tree 
or field, will cry, " Barak Allah! " (" God bless you ! "). 5 

1 Compare 'Leave thine orphans, I will preserve them alive' 
(Jer. xlix. n). 

2 It was exactly the same 3,000 years ago : ' Boaz came from Beth- 
lehem, and he said to the reapers, " Jehovah be with you." And they 
answered him, " Jehovah bless thee " ' (Ruth ii. 4). 

3 Deut. xxxii. 12; Ps. v. 8, xxv. 5, xxvii. 11; Isa. xlix. 10; 
Jer. xxxi. 9; Matt. iii. 3 ; Heb. xii. 13. 

4 Gen. xxiv. 31. 

5 Compare this truly Oriental custom with the Psalmist's allusion to 



JOPPA AND THE SHEPHAILAH 7> 



When a Fellahh desires to carry his case to a higher 
court after the adverse decision of a village Sheikh, he 
gives formal notice of appeal in the words, " The truth 
of God is with another than thee." Does a traveller, 
when asked where he is going, wish to put you off 
with an evasive answer ? — he says, " To the gate of God " ; 
and to your other questions he will probably give the 




SITE OF CAVE OF ADULLAM, AS IDENTIFIED BY COLONEL C. R. CONDER, R.E., 
NEAR THE PHILISTINE COUNTRY ON A HILL BESIDE THE RUINS OF THE 
CITY OF ADULLAM 

ambiguous reply, "Yallieem Allah!" ("God knows"). Is 

a town besieged? — the armed inhabitants, as they mount 

the grass that springs up each rainy season on the housetop, the flat, 
rolled, clay-mud roof that looks for a time a lovely emerald green, but 
in the burning heat quickly 'withers before it grows up; wherewith the 
mower fills not his hand, nor he that binds the sheaves his bosom. 
Neither do they ivhich go by say, " The blessing of the Lord be upon you : 
We bless you in the name of the Lord"' (Ps. cxxix. 6-8). 



72 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



guard or parade the streets, may be heard shouting 
aloud to intimidate the foe, " Our swords are strong, 
and our trust is in God." 

( It is so in all ; and it is this interlarding of con- 
versation with such extremely pious, but, for the most 
part, utterly insincere, expressions that makes one feel 
in Palestine as if one were actually listening to a Laban, 
a Joab, a Jehu, or a hypocritical Pharisee of our Lord's 
day, so lifelike, there, is this feature, which is naturally 
felt to be wholly unreal when read in a land like ours.' 1 

1 Pictured Palestine, by James Neil, M.A., 4th edition, pp. 84-8 
(Messrs. J. Nisbet & Co.). 




THE KEDRON VALLEY 



THE DOME OF THE CHAIN { TEMPLE AREA ' 



CHAPTER IV 

JOPPA TO JERUSALEM 

From Joppa we may start for Jerusalem. Passing 
through the or an ore groves 1 we emerge on the broad 
brown plain of Sharon ' — that is, brown in the hot 
season, for in the early spring-time it is one glorious 
green of springing crops, and golden with grain in May. 
The soil is most fertile. The hrst town we come to 
is Ramleh. amid hne olive groves., remarkable for a high 
and beautiful tower — 1 the Tower of the Forty,' as it is 
called— attached to a ruin known as ' the White Mosque." 
Another mosque in the centre of the town is a very 
perfect specimen pi a tweltth-century Palestine church. 



74 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



Here at Ramleh you may well realize the ruin of the 
Holy Land, in the contrasts, everywhere presented, of 
the remains of past grandeur and of present squalor, 
decay, and ruin. ' The walls of fine stone houses are 
enclosed in wretched hovels of mud. Here and there 
an ornate Cufic or Arabic inscription is left, telling of 
Moslem conquerors and munificent caliphs ; but the 
bazaars are deserted, and starved dogs and helpless 
lepers meet the eye on every side.' Ramleh receives 
its name from its ' sandv,' or drv, surrounding lands. 
It is not a Bible site, having been built apparently in 
the eighth century, after the destruction of Lydda, 
some two miles away. 

Lydda is about eleven miles from Joppa, and is 
surrounded by very fine and extensive olive groves. 
The principal object shown here is the remains of what 
must once have been a very splendid church, built by 
the Crusaders and dedicated to 1 Saint ' George, who, in 
popish times, was adopted as the patron saint of 
England, and who, tradition says, was born and buried 
at Lydda. Part of this church is now used as a 
Mohammedan mosque, and part as a Greek church. 
' St.' George is known throughout Syria as El Khuder, 
1 the Green,' no doubt because he is always represented 
as riding a white horse, and white horses in the East 
are called ' green.' He is regarded as the patron saint ol 
the mad. Many efforts are now being made in England 



JOPPA TO JERUSALEM 75 



to honour his day, and revive' his superstitious mediaeval 
worship, and to adopt him publicly again as our country's 
patron saint. But it would surely be an act of mad- 
ness in a Protestant land to place the realm under the 
protection and patronage of a dead man, when we can 
and ought to place it under the sole patronage and 
protection of the living God — truly it would be to 
declare ourselves in the condition of those who in the 
East are said to be his especial care ! 

But turning, as we often must, with impatience from 
the superstitions which everywhere meet us now in the 
Holy Land, we may be fairly certain that here we have 
the Lydda of the Acts of the Apostles. Here it was that 
Peter came down ' to the saints who dwelt at Lydda,' 1 
for all the followers of Christ, all believers, in the New 
Testament are styled ' saints,' because of the holy 
nature of their calling. All those the Apostle writes to 
at Rome, whom he described ' as called to be Jesus 
Christ's,' he addressed also as ' called to be saints ' 2 ; 
and the word ' saint,' which occurs sixty times in the 
New Testament, occurs in almost every instance in 
the plural, as spoken of the whole body of believers. 
The adjective form of this word ' saint,' ' holy,' is, in 
the New Testament, applied to three, and only three, 
individual persons, and these are the Three Persons of 
the Divine Trinity, either separately or viewed as one : 
1 Acts ix. 32. 2 Rom. i. 6, 7. 



76 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



' Holy Father ' 1 ; k Thy Holy Son [or servant] Jesus ' 2 ; 
'The Holy Spirit' 3 ; and, 'Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord 
God Almighty.' 4 It is a practice of the Church of 
Rome, wholly opposed to the letter and spirit of 
Scripture, to give to any members of the Church, as 
a class, the distinguishing title of saint. A careful 
search of all the writings that have come down to us from 
the Church of the first three centuries, known as the 
Ante-Nicene Fathers, shows that not even the apostles 
or evangelists were then called ' saint.' At the end 
of the Revised Version of the New Testament, at the 
head of all the ' Readings and Renderings preferred by 
the American Committee, recorded at their desire,' 
occurs this necessary emendation : * Strike out " S " 
[i.e. 'saint,' or rather, in this form, the Latin 
' sanctus '] from the title of the gospels, and from the 
headings of the pages ' ; and they say, ' Let the title of 
the Revelation run " the Revelation of John." ' Nor 
could they consistently have failed to protest against 
its insertion ; for in no ancient manuscript is the word 
' saint ' found in any of these titles, and every one of 
the revisers must have been well aware that there is 
not the faintest reason for supposing that it ever formed 
part of the original text ! So far from the title ■ saint ' 
being peculiar to any one member of the Church, or 

1 John xvii. n. ;5 Matt. i. 18. 

2 Acts iv. 27, 30. 4 Rev. iv. 8. 



JOPPA TO JERUSALEM 77 



any one class of its members as distinguished from the 
rest, one might as scripturally speak of either Bunyan 
or Wesley as 'Saint 1 John, as give this style to the 
writer of the fourth Gospel. 

It was whilst Peter was amongst 1 the saints who 
dwelt at Lydda ' that he found ' a certain man Aeneas, 
who had been bedridden and hopelessly palsied [that 
is, paralysed] for eight years.' ' Peter said to him : 
Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole ; arise, and 
make thy bed ; and he arose immediately. And all 




THE PHILISTINE COUNTRY 



78 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



that dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him ; and they 
turned to the Lord.' 1 It was from this little town of 
Lydda the disciples at Joppa sent two men to urge Peter 
to come there on the occasion of the death of Dorcas, 
which issued in the wonderful miracle of the Apostle's 
raising her from the dead, leading to many more 
believing on the Lord. 

Now there is a railway from Joppa to Jerusalem, 
and a good carriage road, but thirty-five years ago 
the highway on the plain of Sharon was the usual 
stone-strewn, almost impassable way ; and that part 
of it which ran through the mountains of Judah was little 
more than a goat track. It is most probable that on 
ordinary occasions the roads of Palestine in Bible times 
were in no better condition. 

Mr. James Neil tells us of the country in its ancient 
unchanged condition in 1870: 'There is scarcely one 
good road throughout the length and breadth of Palestine. 
Travellers, as they manage to pass their horses with 
difficulty along the wretched highways, or choose some 
adjacent path over the open plain as far preferable to 
the road itself, often wonder whence come the huge 
rough stones which so constantly obstruct the way. 
I was at a great loss to account for the presence of these, 
until my attention was called, by Mr. Schick, our able 
architect at Jerusalem, to the manner in which many 

1 Acts ix. 33-5. 



JOPPA TO JERUSALEM 79 



of them are brought there. The camel, horse, and 
mule drivers, when they find the burdens they have 
arranged on the backs of their sumpter animals are not 
equally poised, instead of rearranging them, have a 
cruel and senseless custom of seizing any large stone 
which comes to hand, and placing it on that side where 
the weight is deficient. This stone in time jolts off, 
and is replaced by another, and often by a third and 
a fourth, and in any case at the journey's end, or when 
the animals are unloaded, is left where it falls in the 
midst of the way. Besides this, in clearing the vine- 
yards, gardens, and arable lands, stones are constantly 
thrown out on to the nearest road. 

' None of the highways, moreover, are at any time 
properly metalled, and in winter they suffer very severely 
from the tropical torrents of rain. Neither is there 
any adequate provision for keeping them in permanent 
order even "if they were efficiently made. This condition 
of the highways causes very serious inconvenience in 
a land where every journey has to be made on horse- 
back, or on foot. Matters were not so bad in the time 
of those master road-makers the Romans, but it is very 
doubtful whether the highways were ever in much 
better order under purely Jewish rulers. The whole 
character and institutions of the despotic East make 
against the proper preservation of works of this kind 
which benefit the community at large. 



8o RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



' Even in the palmy days of Solomon, Josephus tells 
us, as an instance of his extraordinary magnificence, 
that he " did not neglect the care of the ways, but 
he laid a causeway of black stone [most probably 
the hard, black basalt stone of the country] along the 
roads that led to Jerusalem, which was the royal city, 
both to render them easy for travellers, and to 
manifest the grandeur of his riches and govern- 
ment." 1 From the mention of these roads in the 
immediate vicinity of the capital as a very remarkable 
affair, we may gather that the other roads were not 
in a very different state from that in which we find 
them now. 

( Yet, notwithstanding the almost impassable condition 
of the highways at ordinary times, I have repeatedly 
observed that on a few occasions for brief intervals they 
were carefully mended. These few occasions were those 
of the arrivals of some royal personages. As soon as it 
was known at Jerusalem that a king or prince of the 
blood was about to come through any of the adjacent 
parts of Palestine which lie within that pashalic, 
orders were forthwith issued to the people of the 
various towns and villages to put all the roads in order 
over which it was arranged he should pass. This 
was done, as usual, by means of enforced labour, as 
was probably the case in former times. I remember 
1 Antiquities of the Jews, Book VIII. chap. vii. sec. 4. 



JOPPA TO JERUSALEM 81 



once having to ride from Jerusalem to Shechem 
(Nablous), a distance of forty miles, just before one 
of the Russian grand-dukes was expected to come that 
way, and finding, to my great surprise and comfort, 
that the road, generally in such a state as to make 




THE WATER SUPPLY OF JERUSALEM 



any by-path preferable, was now perfectly smooth and 
in order throughout. The stones had been gathered 
out, the broken-down embankments had been cast up, 
and the shelving and slippery ledges of rock on the 
brinks of precipices had been covered with a thin coat 
of earth. 



82 RAMBLES' IN BIBLE LANDS 



1 Hence the proclamation in Isaiah — 

Pass ye, pass ye through the gates. 

Prepare ye the way of the people ; 

Cast up, cast up the highway, clear away the stones, 

Lift up a standard for the peoples. 

Behold, Jehovah hath proclaimed unto the end of the world 
Say ye to the daughter of Zion. 
Behold, thy Salvation cometh ! 
Behold, His reward is with Him. 
And His recompense is before Him. 1 

Here the coming of Christ is foretold, and the preparation 
for the Advent of Israel's Divine Kino- commanded, 

o 

under the striking figure of the usual orders issued to 
make ready the highway for a royal procession. The 
Gentile nations are directed to pass out of the gates of 
their cities in order to remove all obstacles from His 
way, and to prepare the road of the Lord and make His 
paths straight, by repentance and faith — a repentance 
and faith specially evidenced by kindness towards His 
despised and persecuted people Israel. Residents in 
Jerusalem of late years have had several excellent 
opportunities of observing the prophet's allusion, and 
have learned to look forward eagerly to the coming 
of some royal visitor, if for no other reason, on account 
of the great improvements immediately made in the 
roads upon which he is about to travel.'" 

1 Isa. lxii. io, ii. 

2 Peeps into Palestine, by James Neil, M.A., 50th thousand, pp. 20-3 
(Messrs. Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.). 



JOPPA TO JERUSALEM 83 



The villages on the plain of Sharon claim our 
attention. Here on the plain the houses are built of 
sun-dried clay brick ; on the mountains their walls are of 
rouo-h stone. Thev all resemble each other. 1 To the 
newcomer/ says Colonel C. R. Conder, 1 these hamlets, 
most of which represent sites older than the time of 
Joshua, have a deserted appearance. The eye misses 
the contrast between roof and wall, and the glazed 
windows and wooden doors seen in Europe. The 
peasant hut in Palestine is merely four walls of mud, 
with a rough roof of boughs covered also with mud ; 
hence the village, which consists of perhaps fifty or sixty 
such cabins huddled together without plan or order, and 
gradually climbing the slope so that the floor of one is 
level with the roof of another, has a uniform grey colour, 
only broken by the whitewashed dome of the little chapel 
dedicated to the patron st prophet " or " sheikh." In the 
plain there are scarcely any springs, and the village is 
supplied as a rule by a pond of stagnant rain-water 
banked round freshly every year. The most conspicuous 
object outside is the huge rubbish-heap, where refuse of 
every kind is thrown. Savage, mangy, half-starved dogs 
keep watch above, and annoy the stranger until boldly 
attacked in turn. They belong to no one, are cared for 
by no one, and their only food appears to be an occasional 
carcase of a donkey or a bullock. It is said they eat 
mice or beetles when nothing else is to be found. All 



84 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



night they vie with the jackals in their howls, and 
they are often reallv dangerous when rearing their 
puppies.' 1 

Ot these wild animals, for such they mostly are, 
Mr. James Xeil says : — 
1 David exclaims : 

They return at evening : they growl like a dog, 
And they go round about the city. 2 

" They " is used in the literal sense for his " enemies," 
"the men of blood." who lie in wait for his soul 
(verses i. 2); and "dog" also is used literally for one 
of those fierce, huge curs, half-bred wolves and iackals. 
owned and cared for by no man. which in wild packs 
infest the towns and villages of Palestine. They are 
hated, despised, and ill-used by all, being counted 
peculiarly unclean, and only tolerated for the two 
ungracious but highly useful offices they perform of 
eating up all the offal and other refuse thrown into the 
streets at night, and attacking indiscriminately any 
strange comers, and so acting as a host of herce night 
guardians. All dav long thev are driven out from 
human habitations, and forage for themselves in the 
open country ; but as night draws on they steal back 
under the cover of darkness. " Thev return at evening," 

1 Tent Work in Palestine, by Col. C. R. Conder, R.E., 1st edition. 
Vol. I., pp. 9, 10 (Messrs. Richard Bentley & Sons). 

2 Ps. iix. 6. 



JOPPA TO JERUSALEM 85 



and savagely growl 
at one another as 
they fight for their 
food, and at all 
strange passers-by, 
forming indeed a 
striking and appro- 
priate image of the 
wicked, " hateful 
and hating one 
another," and "lov- 
ing darkness rather 
than lio-ht," because 
they are of the 
night and 1 ' of 
darkness." 

1 There is a 
beautiful and 

powerful figure of Implication, a species of metaphor, 
in our Saviour's words to the much-tried Syrophenician 
woman, whose " great faith " He has called us to 
admire : " It is not meet to take the children's bread, 
and cast it to the little dogs" ("puppies," kunaria, the 
diminutive of kudu, " a dog"). 1 It is a matter of 
surprise that this has not been so rendered in our 
Revised Version. " Dog," in the East, is an awful 

1 Mark vii. 27. 




THE WAY TO JERICHO. 
EASTERN LADIES TRAVELLING. 



86 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



term of contempt, as I have already shown, a name 
for everything that is unclean and hateful. Our blessed 
Lord would not have used, and, I rejoice to know, did 
not use, such a term. Had He done so, He would have 
plunged the poor woman into despair. On the other 
hand, He went out of His way by this word " kunaria" 
or " puppies," to suggest to her just that hope of which 
a faith like hers could lay hold. "Dogs" are never 
allowed in the houses, never stroked by the master, 
never fed by the children ; but " little dogs" or "puppies" 
are. When quite young these poor, despised brutes 
are often carried into the mud houses of the Fellahheen, 
fondled, and fed ! This the Lord Jesus Christ as a 
Fellahh knew well, and He knew that the woman knew 
it too, and, therefore, to that humble, believing soul — 
thank God for it! — -He said "puppies." She caught at 
it at once, and cried, " Nai [the Hebrew na, that is, I 
beseech you], Lord, but even the puppies {kitnaria) 
under the table eat of the children's crumbs !" (ver. 28). 
And He then crowned and rewarded, as He ever does, 
the faith He had so deeply tried, crying, " O woman, 
great is thy faith ; be it unto thee even as thou wilt " ; 
" For this saying go thy way ; the devil is gone out of 
thy daughter." ' 1 

There is a very remarkable and regular provision 

1 Strange Figures, by James Neil, M.A., pp. 18, 19, 28, 29 (Messrs. 
Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.). 



JOPPA TO JERUSALEM 87 



of Nature, peculiar to Bible lands, which may be 
observed in a first sight of Palestine here on this Sharon 
plain on most nights in the hot season, when a west wind 
is blowing. We allude to the summer sea-night-mist — 
white, shining clouds of mist that come up from ' the 
great sea westward," the Mediterranean Sea, and nightly 
sweep over the land eastward. We give it in Mr. Neil's 
own words, for it is his discovery, and throws a flood 
of new light on all the thirty-five places (which can be 
looked out in a concordance) where the word ' dew ' 
occurs in the Old Testament : — 

' It explains in a very striking and hitherto un- 
suspected manner the numerous mentions of the Hebrew 
word taL uniformly rendered "dew" in the Authorized 
Version of the Bible. Some of these mentions have 
presented hitherto unanswerable difficulties, such as the 
statement of the wise man, that — 

The clouds drop down the 'dew,' 1 

which, if "dew" in the scientific sense of the word is 
understood, is just what they do not, no dew ever 
forming when clouds are about ! Again, the words in 
Isaac's blessing;, "God gave thee of the 'dew' of 
heaven" 2 ; those of Moses, summing up "the precious 
things of heaven" in the "dew" 3 ; the favour of an 
absolute Eastern king being likened to "'dew' upon 

1 Prov. iii. 20. 2 Gen. xxvii. 28. 3 Deut. xxxiii. 13. 



88 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



the grass," 1 on account of the benefits he can confer 
on his favourites ; and saved Israel's influence amongst 
the nations being said to be " as ' dew ' from Jehovah " 2 ; 
such words as these, and those in many other passages, 
bespeak a peculiar excellence and value which dew does 
not possess even amongst us, and still less in Palestine, 
where it only occurs in the winter, the time of abundant 
heavy rains, which render it comparatively useless ! 

' It was my good fortune, as a result of my residence 
in Jerusalem, to discover the deeply interesting natural 
feature which is called in our version (i dew," and 
fully to realize in what its importance and excellence 
consists. 3 From the end of April till about the end 
of October, and sometimes the end of November, no 
drop of rain falls ; while each day, for some ten to 
twelve hours, the sun shines with great strength, unveiled 
by a single cloud. This fierce heat is, in May and 
October, intensified by a burning wind, the shirocco, 
which gathers its withering, scorching power as it sweeps 
over the vast sands of the Arabian desert, and is the awful 

1 Prov. xix. 1 2. 

2 Mic. v. 7 ; see also Hos. xiv. 5. 

3 It is true that Dr. Thomson, in The Land and the Book, and 
countless other writers have passing allusions to the summer sea-night- 
mist, but all have spoken of it as ' dew,' and have treated it as such, and 
have overlooked its true character, which brings out so beautifully the 
accuracy and force of all the Bible allusions. See Palestine Explored, 
ioth edition, pp. 129-51 (Messrs. J. Nisbet & Co.). 



RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



"east wind," or "south wind," of the Bible. 1 During 
this period, but more especially at its close in September 
and October, the west wind, which then prevails, comes 
up laden with moisture from the Mediterranean Sea, 
which is condensed in low-lying clouds of mist as soon 
as it reaches the land. These cloud-masses sweep 
alone near the ground, leaving behind them an immense 
amount of what is mis-named in our version " dew," 
but which is really a very fine, gentle rain in the 
form of a light Scotch mist. The Arabic modern 
name for it, fa/, is the same as the Hebrew word, 
and thus makes the identification certain. Its great 
excellence consists, — 

'i. In its coming onlv in the hottest and driest 
season, when for from six to seven consecutive months 
no other moisture from above can be had. 

'2. In its coming only during the night, " when no 
man can work," and so interfering in no way with the 
business or pleasures of life. 

' 2. In its coming in such rich abundance as far to 
exceed the moisture deposited by any formation of dew. 

'4. In its coming in such fine particles and moderate 
quantities as not even to hurt the gathered grain lying 
out on the open-air threshing-floors. 

1 It is a south-east wind. For the withering and fatal effects of this 
painful blast, see Job xxvii. 21 : Jer. xviii. 17 ; Ezek. xvii. 10, xix. 12 ; 
Hos. xiii. 15 ; &c. Our Lord alludes to it in Luke xii. 55. 



JOPPA TO JERUSALEM 91 

' 5. In its effects ceasing as soon as the sun is hot, 
and so leaving no miasmic or other injurious results 
behind, whence it is well called by Hosea "the night- 
mist which early goes away" (Hos. vi. 4 ; xiii. 3). 

' 6. In its coming in largest quantity on the highest, 
and therefore driest, spots, because the cold of these 
regions condenses more moisture from the warm sea 
air. Hence the summer sea-night-mist of Hermon is 
exceedingly copious (Ps. cxxxiii. 3), since the sea air 
driven up its sloping sides to its lofty summit (9,150 feet 
high, with some remains of snow even in summer) meets 
there the coldest altitude in the country, and forms the 
densest night-mist. 

'This explanation exactly accounts for "the clouds" 
being said " to drop " it down, which is just what they 
do. Very beautiful are the silvery -shining mist-clouds 
which may be seen as the day dawns being drawn up 
and dissolved into thin air, the fugitive clouds to which 
Hosea compares Israel's brief and transient seasons of 
goodness — 

Your goodness is like the morning cloud, 

And like the night-mist (fa/) which early goes away. 1 

It also displays the naturalness of the great amount 
of tal, or " night-mist," which fell miraculously on 
Gideon's fleece, whilst it makes the miracle in every 

1 Hos. vi. 4. 



92 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 

way more wonderful. 1 It adds a new intensity to our 
Saviour's pathetic appeal — 

Open to me . . . 

For my head is filled with night-mist (ta/), 
And my locks with the drops of the night. 2 

' There is an icy chill often attending exposure to 
the "night-mist" which is not experienced on a dewy 
night ; the latter being always fine. In a word, let 
" night-mist " be written in each of the thirty-five 
places in our Bible where "dew" occurs, and it will be 
found to give a new meaning and a new beauty in every 
instance ! 

' What fresh point and power now clothe the gracious 
promise — 

I will be as the night-mist {tat) to Israel! 3 

and also that beautiful but difficult passage, Ps. ex. 3, 
which there have been so many vain attempts to 
explain.' 4 

Going up to Jerusalem, as it must have taken place 
before the days of road or rail, consisted in a journey 
made on the back of horse, ass, camel, or mule — generally, 
in the case of Europeans, the first — with tents taken in 
which to sleep and dine, together with all the needed 
furniture, beds, and bedding, washstand, chairs, tables, 

1 Judges vi. 36-40. 2 Cant. v. 2. 3 Hos. xiv. 5. 

4 Strange Scenes^ by James Neil, M.A., 120th thousand, pp. 17-19 
(Messrs. Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.). 



JOPPA TO JERUSALEM 93 

fireplace, fuel (charcoal), and full supplies of food ; all 
these carried on the backs of mules and horses, and 
sometimes camels and asses. Indeed, most journeys 
throughout the country have still to be taken in this 
healthy and charming fashion. But travelling in Oriental 
lands has always been connected with a spice of danger, 
for many reasons. ' Civilians of the most peaceable 
character may constantly be met with, travelling on the 
most frequented highways, armed with sword, pistols, 
knife, and gun. The wild beasts which roam by night, 
the Syrian bears, hunting leopards, wolves, hyaenas, 
wild boars, packs of wild dogs, and huge vultures of 
every kind, up to the monstrous lammergeyer, require 
men to be armed ; and so also do the endless family 
feuds arising out of the terrible thar, or " blood revenge," 
border warfare, Bedaween raids, and desperate attacks 
by robbers, which have always been features of a 
residence in Palestine. The Government of these 
despotic lands, outside the large towns, affords no 
adequate protection, and men have to be their own 
policemen. When I first went out to Jerusalem, 
being unaware of this, I determined not to carry 
firearms, thinking them inconsistent with my peace- 
ful calling ; but I had not been there many months — 
during which I had to make long journeys alone by 
night — before I found it, humanly speaking, absolutely 
necessary to do as I observed every one without excep- 



94 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



tion doing around me, if only as a protection against 
wild beasts, and I accordingly sent home for a case of 
the best revolvers. Ordinary European travellers, it is 
true, are not necessarily called upon to do this, because 
their dragoman, cook, and moocaries^ or mule drivers, 
are armed for their defence. This universal practice 
of carrying weapons, and when travelling of being 
armed to the teeth, affords a striking, undesigned, and 
therefore powerful evidence of the genuineness of the 
book of Psalms. On one occasion, when I made a 
classified list of the fourteen subjects into which the 
imagery of that book may be divided, I found figures 
drawn from weapons of war coming third in frequency. 
It would not be so in Western poems. 

' What a light, too, this throws on the figurative 
words of our Blessed Lord : ''He that has no sword, 
let him sell his cloak and buy one ! " 1 I learned, by 
the experience of everyday life, that these words, in 
their fullest meaning, imply no more than saying, 
" Take now the usual precautions which all prudent and 
experienced people employ when setting out upon long 
and dangerous journeys, as you will no longer be going 
out under directly miraculous provision and protection." 
The Church of Rome has endeavoured to found on 
this passage her proud unscriptural claim to use the 
civil sword, in the form of persecution, even unto 

1 Luke xxii. 36. 




JOPPA GATE OF JERUSALEM, SEEN FROM THE OUTSIDE 



96 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 

death, to advance the work of the Church. Besides, 
this passage in the Gospel has been much carped at 
by unbelievers, who have falsely represented Christ as 
teaching His disciples to fight for His kingdom and 
extend it by violence. But the reader will now see 
that their objections are the result of ignorance, and 
cannot live for a moment in the liorht of Palestine life.' 1 

Another strange custom, which has had its origin in 
the danger of travelling: in the night time, with no better 
shelter from burglars than the canvas side of a tent, 
has been described by Mr. Xeil in his Palestine Exploited. 
For several months in the hot season of the year dwellers 
in Palestine leave the hot towns and villages, and reside 
in tents or in some high adjacent country spot, thus 
taking change of air without quitting their ordinary 
vocations. Not only on these occasions, but also in 
travelling, when the tents are .pitched in the neighbour- 
hood of any inhabited place, it is the invariable custom 
to apply at once to the governor or headman of the 
nearest town or village for 'a keeper,' to watch over 
the encampment by night. When this 'keeper' is sent, 
the whole town or village he represents is thus made 
responsible for the life and property of the travellers. 
It is very difficult to find men who can be fully trusted 
to do this work. The robbers of Palestine are, and 

1 Stra?ige Scenes, by James Neil, M.A., 120th thousand, pp. 12-14 
(Messrs. Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.). 



JOPPA TO JERUSALEM 9 7 



probably always have been, a large and desperate class. 
A great difficulty is to find a keeper who will remain 
awake and alert all night. Often sent by the elders 
of the village after he has been following the plough 
a good part of the day, no matter how anxious the 
man may be to keep his vigil, it is quite beyond his 
power to resist sleep. The weariness of those who 
do manage to keep a faithful watch, and their longing 
for day during the tedious, lonely hours of darkness, 
is alluded to in a graphic and beautiful figure of the 
Psalmist : 

My soul [waiteth] for Jehovah 
More than keepers for the morning, 
[More than] keepers for the morning. 1 

The usual method adopted to secure due vigilance 
is to require the man to call out loudly, or to blow a 
whistle, every quarter of an hour. This not only scares 
away robbers, but also assures his wakeful employer that 
he is being efficiently guarded. But in spite of all these 
precautions, 'as soon as sleep falls on the tired camp, it is 
too often the case that the hireling keeper wraps around 
him his thick abaiyek, or cloak, and, careless of his 
charge, or overcome with weariness, yields himself up 
to his drowsy propensities.' In his Palestine Explored 2 

1 Ps. cxxx. 6. Observe this is in a journeying psalm, one of the 
1 songs of degrees ' — that is, ' songs of ascendings,' or ' goings up.' 

2 Palestine Explored, ioth edition, pp. 212-18 (Messrs. J. Nisbet 
& Co.). 



98 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



and Pictured Palestine 1 Mr. Neil gives thrilling stories 
of burglarious attacks on his encampments, showing the 
great strength and courage, as well as the watchfulness, 
needed by a good keeper. Viewed in the light of these 
facts, how full of condescension and cheer is the assur- 
ance of God's omnipotent, never-ceasing care : 

He who keepeth thee will not slumber. 
Behold, He who keepeth Israel 
Doth not slumber or sleep. 
- Jehovah is thy keeper ! 2 

While the services of the keeper constitute at all 
times a marked feature of life in Palestine, they are 
perhaps more needed when travelling through the 
country than at any other time. Then, when the 
moving camp is nightly pitched in strange fields, it 
becomes absolutely necessary to apply to the nearest 
authorities for a nocturnal guardian before one can safely 
lie down to rest. Now this Ps. cxxi., being one of 
the ' songs of degrees '■ — that is, of ' ascendings,' or 
' goings up ' — was probably composed to be sung on 
their caravans' journeys to Jerusalem, when, three times 
a year, they went up there, every male over twelve 
years of age, at the feasts of Passover, Pentecost, 

1 Pictured Palestine, 3rd edition, pp. 179-86 (Messrs. J. Nisbet 
& Co.). 

2 Ps. cxxi. 3-5. See also Ps. cxvi. 6, 'Jehovah is a keeper of 
the simple' ; and Ps. cxlvi. 9, 'Jehovah is the keeper of strangers.' 



JOPPA TO JERUSALEM 99 

and Tabernacles. It would appear to be one of the 
hymns for their travelling days. Thus, as distinctly a 
journeying psalm, it would have peculiar significance 
in its allusion to the ' keeper ' by night. 

On this plain it may well be asked, What flower 




A JEWISH FAMILY OF JERUSALEM— FOUR GENERATIONS 



can claim the honour of being ' the rose of Sharon ' ? 
Canon Tristram and other naturalists would identify 
this flower, the Hebrew hhabalzeleth, with the fragrant 
narcissus [Narcissus tazetta), a native wild flower of 
Palestine found on this plain and also in the hills. But 
Mr. Neil has pointed out that no wild plant of the Bible 



ioo RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



is spoken of as belonging to any particular district. 
Only cultivated products, good for food, or that are 
market commodities, are ever spoken of in this way, 
either in the utilitarian East or that Oriental book, the 
Holy Bible. Thus, we have 'the wheat of Minnith,' 1 
'the wine of Helbon,' 2 'the vineyards of En-gedi,' 3 
■ the cedars of Lebanon,' 4 &c. ; but never is the fairest 
wild flower mentioned in such a local connexion, and 
it is contrary to the whole genius of the East that it 
should be. Proving in this way that it must be a plant 
cultivated for the market, Mr. Neil at some length 
shows the high probability that it was a very choice 
and fragrant varietv of the rose — a white rose — a flower 
that is to this day so largely cultivated, in the form of 
the Damascene rose, for perfume. ' The lily of the 
plains,' it is now generally admitted, was a crimson 
wild flower, probably the fine scarlet crimson Anemone 
coronaria ; or another species, equally brilliant but smaller, 
Ranunculus asiaticus ; or else the brilliant red tulip so 
common in Galilee, Tulipa gesneriana. Red the flower 
must be, since the bride says of the mouth of her 
beloved, 'His lips are like lilies.' 5 The Hebrew name 
is shushan ; our modern female name ' Susan ' comes 

1 Ezek. xxvii. 17. 3 Cant. i. 14. 

2 Ezek. xxvii. 18. 4 Ps. xxix. 5 ; xcii. 12 ; civ. 16. 

5 Cant. v. 13. See also Cant. ii. 16; iv. 5 ; vi. 2, 3 ; vii. 2. The 
' lily,' shushan, was one of the devices round the brim of the brazen 
sea (1 Kings vii. 26 ; 2 Chron. iv. 5). 



ANEMONE CORONARIA. 

The 'Lily' of the Bible. 



JOPPA TO JERUSALEM 101 



from it. The Fellahheen give the Arabic form of this 
word, susan, to several brilliant coloured flowers. It 
appears to be the same as the krinofi of the New 
Testament, of which our Lord says, ' Why take ye 
thought for raiment ? Consider the krinons of the field, 
how they grow ; they toil not, neither do they spin : 
and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his 
glory was not arrayed like one of these.' 1 

Canon Tristram says : ' The Anemone coronaria, 
well known in our gardens, ... is the flower which, as 
the most gorgeously painted, the most conspicuous in 
spring, and the most universally spread of all the floral 
treasures of the Holy Land, I should feel inclined to 
fix on as ' the lily of the field ' of our Lord's discourse. 
It is found everywhere, on all soils, and in all situations. 
It covers the Mount of Olives ; it carpets the plains. 
Nowhere does it attain a more luxurious growth than 
by the shores of the Lake of Galilee. In the olive 
yards of Ephraim, on the bare hills of Nazareth, alike, 
there is no part of the country where it does not shine. 
Certainly if, in the wondrous richness of bloom which 
characterizes the land of Israel in spring, any one plant 
can claim pre-eminence, it is the anemone, the most natural 
flower for our Lord to pluck and seize upon as an 
illustration, whether walking in the fields or sitting 
on the hillside. The anemone also meets every require- 
1 Matt. vi. 28, 29 ; Luke xii. 27. 



io2 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 

ment of the allusions in Canticles, and is one of the 
flowers called susan by the Arabs/ 1 Mr. Neil has 
come to the same conclusion, and describes the flower 
as of a brilliant scarlet crimson, with a black ring or 
corona (from which it takes the name coronaria) round 
the base of the petals, sometimes 2\ inches in diameter, 
with a pile like a Lyons velvet. He holds that the 
verse in Canticles spoken by Christ, the Beloved of 
the song, the heavenly Bridegroom, should be rendered : 

I am the white rose of Sharon, 

And the crimson anemone of the plains, 2 

and images by the white cultured rose, the monarch 
of flowers, His divinity ; and by the lowly, though 
lovely, wild scarlet-crimson anemone His humanity ; 
and this answers exactly to the words of the Shulamite, 
the bride : 

My beloved is bright and ruddy. 3 

In Palestine there are many venomous reptiles. 
Scorpions abound, lurking in hot weather under the 
shelter of stones. The common species in Palestine 
is whitish in colour. So numerous are they that, in 
the hotter parts of the country, every third stone may 

1 The Natural History of the Bible, by Canon H. B. Tristram, 
LL.D., F.R.S., 2nd edition, pp. 464-5 (Society for Promoting 
Christian Knowledge). 

2 Cant. ii. 1. 3 Cant. v. 10. 



JOPPA TO JERUSALEM 103 




THE TRADITIONAL GROTTO OF JEREMIAH 



be said to conceal one. It has the appearance of a 
tiny lobster, with similar palpi, or claws, of the same 
proportionate shape and size, with which it seizes its 
prey, and then with its long, powerful, jointed tail strikes 
backward over its head with the strong pointed claw 
with which its tail ends, and which injects an acrid 
poison into the punctured wound. Eight species have 
been described. The largest and most dangerous 
is black, and about 6 inches long. Other species are 
yellow, brown, reddish, and striped and banded. The 
sting of the black scorpion, which abounds on the hot 
seaboard north of Beyrout, is believed to be fatal, and 
natives sleep in these parts with a razor by their side 
to cut out the wound, should they be stung in the night. 
The sting in all cases is most painful, worse than 
a hornet's, but suction and ammonia and sweet oil 
will in ordinary cases stop the pain and reduce the 



Tc 4 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



swelling in two or three hours' time. Rehoboam threatened 
his people, ' I will chastise you with scorpions' 1 ; and in 
the vision in Revelation the locusts from the smoke 
of the bottomless pit had ' tails like scorpions, and 
there were stings in their tails.' 2 Encouraging His 
disciples to prayer, the Lord asks, ' If a son . . . shall 
ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion ? ' 3 Promising 
them miraculous immunity from danger, He said to 
the Apostles, ' Behold, I will give you power to tread 
on serpents and scorpions, . . . and nothing shall by 
any means hurt you.' 4 

Deadly serpents, too, abound, though nowhere 
perhaps so terribly as in the desert of Sinai, in refer- 
ence to which Moses speaks of God's miraculous pro- 
tection, ' who led thee through that great and terrible 
wilderness, [wherein were] fiery serpents, and scorpions, 
and drought.' 5 ' The venomous snakes belong to four 
different genera : the deadly cobra {Naja haje) and four 
viperine snakes ; two true vipers {Viper a euphratica 
and Viper a ammodytes) ; one Daboia (Daboia xanthine?) ; 
and Echis arenicola. The pet hen of the Hebrew Bible, 
' the asp ' of our version, appears to be the dreaded 
cobra of Egypt and Southern Palestine, the serpent 
most usually employed by the serpent-charmers. Hence 



1 i Kings xii. n ; 2 Chron. x. 14. 

2 Rev. ix. 5, 10. 

5 Deut. viii. 15. 



3 Luke xi. 1 2. 

4 Luke x. 19. 



JOPPA TO JERUSALEM 105 



the allusion of the Psalmist, though obscured in our 
version, is specially pointed : 

They are like a deaf cobra (pethen) that stoppeth its ear, 
Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, 
Of one charming ever so wisely. 1 

Canon Tristram tells us : ' The resources of the 
charmers appear to be very simple — the shrill notes of 
a flute, which are the only kind of tones which the 
serpent, with its very imperfect sense of sound, is 
capable of distinctly following ; and, above all, coolness 
and courage, combined with o-entleness in handling the 
animal, so as not to irritate it. The charmers are not 
impostors ; for, though they may sometimes remove the 
fangs, it is a well-attested fact that they generally allow 
them to remain, and they will operate on the animals 
when just caught as willingly as on individuals which 
have long been in their possession ; but they are very 
reluctant to make experiments on any other species 
but the cobra. When a cobra has been discovered in 
a hole, the charmer plays at the mouth until the serpent, 
attracted by the sound, comes out, when it is suddenly 
seized by the tail, and held at arm's length. Thus 
suspended, it is unable to turn itself so as to bite ; and 
when it has become exhausted by its vain efforts, it is 

1 Ps. Iviii. 4, 5. See other references to the pethen, or cobra, 
Deut. xxxii. 33 ; Job. xx. 14-6 ; Isa. xi. 8 ; Ps. xci. 13, in all which the 
very deadly nature of its poison is implied. 



ro6 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



put into a basket, the lid of which is raised whilst the 
music is playing, but, at each attempt of the serpent 
to dart out, the lid is shut down upon it, until it learns 
to stand quietly on its tail, swaying to and fro to the 
music, and ceases to attempt to escape. If it shows 
more restlessness than ordinary, the fangs are extracted 
as a precaution. Instances are not uncommon in which, 
with all their care, the jugglers' lives are sacrificed in the 
exhibition.' 1 

The cobra is not actually deaf, though some that 
defy the charmers' art are on this account, no doubt, 
called deaf. ' Stoppeth its ear ' must be a figure for 
'refuses to listen to or to be influenced by the flute.' 
No serpent stops its ears with its tail, as some have 
suggested, for the sufficient reason that no serpent 
possesses any external openings to the ear. Jugglers, 
by pressing the nape of the cobra's neck with their 
fingers, apparently throw it into a mesmeric state, in which 
it is still and immovable, and appears like a rod or stick. 
Was this, possibly, what Pharaoh's magicians did with 
their enchantments ? But, if so, it availed them nothing, 
for Aaron's rod, really changed into a serpent, swallowed 
up theirs. 2 It is very probable that Aaron's rod was 
turned into a cobra, the largest and most formidable 

1 The Natural History of the Bible, by Canon H. B. Tristram, 2nd 
edition, p. 272 (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge). 

2 Exod. vii. 10-12. 



JOPPA TO JERUSALEM 107 

of all the deadly serpents of Egypt and Palestine, and 
this would add terror to the miraculous sign. 

Another snake calls for mention, the shephiphon of 
the Hebrew Bible, the shiphon of the Arabs. This 
is the Cerastes hasselquistii of the naturalists, the well- 




T HE SERAI, THE PASHA'S RESIDENCE AT JERUSALEM, WITH THE ISAKRACKS 
ADJOINING (THE SITE OF PONTIUS PILATE'S RESIDENCE AND THE PRAETORIUM) 



known horned snake. ' It can be at once recognized 
from every other serpent by the peculiar horn-like 
appendages just above the eyes, covered with small 
scales, which are always developed in the male, and 
sometimes, to a less extent, in the adult female, and 



io8 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



from which it derives its name cerastes, or horned snake.' 
It has a deadly habit of lying in ambush, and, unlike 
other serpents, attacking men and horses when un- 
provoked. It is of a sandy colour, with pale brown, 
irregular spots, and about a foot and a half long. Its 
habit is to coil itself in the sand of the highway, where 
it often lies coiled up in the small hollow left on the soft 
road by the impress of a camel's hoof, and from there 
it darts out upon any passing animal. Horses well 
know and fear them, and will tremble and perspire with 
fear in every limb on seeing one on the road a few 
yards away. This is said to be the asp with which 
Cleopatra killed herself. Wily, treacherous, cruel Dan 
was likened by Jacob to this serpent : 

Dan shall be a serpent by the way, 
A cerastes (shephiphori) in the path, 
That bites the horses' heels, 
So that his rider falls backward. 1 

After crossing the plain of Sharon we reach the 
foothills of the mountains of Judah, about 500 feet 
above the level of the sea — -a soft white limestone 
country with large fertile valleys, and once so densely 
peopled that here, in the work of the survey, Colonel 
Conder found as many as three ancient sites within 
two square miles. All along these foothills, commanding 
the passes to the mountains, were Gath and Gezer, 

1 Gen. xlix. 17. 



JOPPA TO JERUSALEM 109 



Emmaus, and Beth Horon. Gezer (at Tel Jezer, ' the 
Mound of Gezer'), recently identified, was a royal city 
of the Canaanites. 1 Here, just north of the road to 
Jerusalem, is the rude village of 'Amwas, which is now 
identified as the Emmaus of the New Testament. It 
is about twenty miles from Jerusalem. In Luke's 
Gospel we read Christ appeared on the same day that 
He rose to two of His disciples going to a village 
called Emmaus, sixty furlongs — that is, seven and a half 
miles — from Jerusalem. 2 This would point to a place 
much nearer. But in that venerable treasure the Sinaitic 
Manuscript, the reading in the Greek here is not sixty 
but one hundred and sixty furlongs, and this just brings 
us to 'Amwas. We thus see it must have taken them 
a good part of the day to do this long walk of twenty 
miles ; and it shows their energy and earnestness that 
immediately they recognized their risen Lord in the 
breaking of bread, tired as they must have been, ' they 
rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem,' 3 
a weary tramp of twenty miles, up steep hills, through 
the darkness, a four hours' fast walk ! 

Passing the little village of Latrun, mud huts 
huddled amidst ancient ruins, we arrive at the mouth 

1 Joshua x. 33, xii, 12, xvi. io, &c. It was afterwards one of forty- 
eight Levitical cities assigned to the children of Kohath (Joshua xxi. 
20-1). 

2 Luke xxiv. 13. 3 Luke xxi v. 33. 



no RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 

of the pass into the mountains, called Bab el Wady 
(' the Gate of the Valley ') ; and by a stiff ascent — the 
first of three passes on the road to Jerusalem — we enter 
the third region, the central limestone mountain ranee, 
the backbone and watershed of the country. The ascent 
is rough and steep, and the valleys very deep, with 
rugged, stony sides, and ledges of hard grey rock thickly 
covered with shrubs, principally lentisks and arbutus, 
while here and there terraces have been artificially built 
up with dry stone walls for the cultivation of the olive. 

We next come to the village of Kuriet el 'Anab 
('the Town of Grapes '), where there are fine vineyards. 
The natives often call it Kurieh, and it may be the 
Kirjath of Benjamin, though it can hardly be Kirjath 
Jearim (' the Town of the Rocky-mountain-forest '), the 
Ydar of the Arabs, on the boundary of Judah, where 
the ark was kept. 1 It is sometimes called Abu Ghoosh, 
from a famous native family of that name, whose last 
chieftain was the terror of pilgrims till he was killed 
by the Egyptian Government. At Easter, when the 
pilgrims come in great numbers, the children of the 
place are here seated along the road, offering water in 
spouted bottles (the porous material of which keeps it 
cool) to the weary, thirsty travellers — an ancient charit- 
able custom now rare in Palestine, but still to be met 
with on some of the pilgrim routes. This seems to 
1 i Sam. vi. 20 — vii. 2 ; 1 Chron. xiii. 5-14; 2 Chron. i. 4. 



JOPPA TO JERUSALEM 



1 1 1 



throw light on our Lord's words alluding to this gracious 
and much-needed kindness in a hot land where the roads 
are so dusty and travelling so laborious : ' Whosoever 
shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup 
of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I 
say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.' 1 

After Kuriet el 'Anab the road descends, and again 
mounts towards the second pass. Here from the 
high ground, to the south of the road, and separated 
from it ' by the deep and impassable valley which, for 
the greater part of its length, forms the northern 

1 Matt. x. 42. 




CITADEL OF JERUSALEM, THE TRADITIONAL TOWER OF DAVID 



ii2 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 

boundary of Judah,' on a high, conical hill, stands the 
conspicuous village of Soba on an ancient site. This, 
Colonel Conder suggests, is very probably the site of 
Kirjath Jearim. He thinks it may have come to be 
called Soba because Shobal founded it. 1 

Shortly beyond we reach the height of the pass, and 
see before us 'a huge valley, 1,500 feet deep, and beyond 
it a straight line of hills more lofty and barren than 
those we have passed.' This great valley ' is a place 
famous in Jewish history. It commences north of 
Jerusalem, and leads down past Lifta (Nephtoah) 2 to 
a little village called Kolonia 3 on the road beneath us. 
Thence by 'Ain Karim southwards to join the Bether 
Valley, and by Kesla (the ancient Chesalon l ), it runs 
down to Zoreah and Eshtaol, 5 and widens out into the 
great corn-valley of Sorek, 6 and so past Ekron and 
Jamia to the sea. Thus it was one of those passes by 
which the Philistines were able to penetrate into the heart 
of the Jewish mountains. It was down that valley that 
Samuel drove the defeated host from Mizpeh, north of 

1 1 Chron. ii. 52. 2 Joshua xv. 9, xviii. 15. 

3 The name Motza is preserved here in a neighbouring ruin, and the 
Talmudic doctors tell us that Motza was a Roman colonia, or colony, a 
place free from taxes and conferring Roman citizenship on those born 
there. 

4 Joshua xv. 10. 

5 Joshua xv. 33, xix. 41 ; Judges xiii. 25, xvi. 31, xviii. 2, 8, n; 
1 Chron. ii. 53. 6 Judges xvi. 4. 



ii 4 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



Jerusalem, to Ebenezer. a place probably at the entrance 
of the hills.- In their flight they passed under Bethcar. 
which is not improbably the present 'Ain Karim. Along 
the stony bed of this great valley at our feet we may 
picture to ourselves the nomadic host with their mail-clad 
champions flying before the followers of the prophet, 
while far away on the white hills the Tabernacle would 
be seen high on the ridge ot Mizpeh.' 2 

From Kolonia, with its flowing stream irrigating 
shadv and delightful orange groves, we begin the long 
ascent of the third pass which leads to the top of the 
plateau, on the opposite | eastern) end of which stands 
Jerusalem. The city is now soon reached, but the flrst 
view of it, when thus approached by the Joppa road trom 
the west, is disappointing, for on this side but little of it 
can be seen, and even that little only when you have 
got within a quarter of a mile of it. But viewed from 
the south-east, east, and north-east, it is very striking 
and beautiful. 

1 i Sam. vii. 3-14. 

2 Tent Work in Palestine, by Colonel C. R. Conder, R.E.. pp. 24, 25 
(Messrs. Richard Bentley 6c Sons). 



MOUNT OF OLIVES, FROM TEMPLE AREA IN JERUSALEM 



CHAPTER V 
JERUSALEM 

We enter Jerusalem — El Knds, ' The Holy,' as the 
natives name it — from the west, by the Joppa Gate. 
Like all the other gates of the city, it is a fine, castellated 
structure. There are seven others, one of which, the 
Golden Gate, is built up and closed. This gate led 
straight up from the east wall to the Temple, and the 
Moslem rulers have built it up because they have a 
tradition that the city will one day be taken from them 
and entered by this gate. The other gates of importance 
are the Damascus Gate in the north wall, the Stephen 

115 



n6 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



Gate in the east wall, and the Zion Gate in the south 
wall. All cities throughout the East are enclosed by 
walls and gates, and are distinguished by this from 
villages ; and it was the case in Bible times — though 
walled towns are, and always have been, very few in 
Eastern lands, the mass of the people living in villages 
and tilling the soil. 

The present city wall is a very picturesque and 
imposing structure. It was erected about 370 years 
ago by the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, is 2~ 
miles in circumference, from 35 to 40 feet high, 
and has thirty-four towers, and, as we have said, eight 
gates. Along the east the wall stands where it did 
in the days of Christ and long before. At the south- 
east corner the foundations have been excavated to a 
depth of 84 feet below the ground, and at the bottom 
stones were found with Phoenician mason marks which 
are probably of the time of Solomon. Close by the 
Stephen Gate the foundations go down t 2 5 feet ! 

The loose rubble soil down to these depths is 
the debris of the twenty-seven times sieged and sacked 
city, for we have the record of these twenty-seven 
destructions, and there were probably more. Our first 
glimpse of it in the Old Testament tells how the children 
of Judah ' smote it with the edge of the sword and set 
the city on fire,' 1 and ' almost the latest mention of it 

1 Judges i. 8. 



nS RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



in the New Testament is contained in the solemn 
warnings in which Christ foretold how Jerusalem should 
be encompassed with armies.' 1 Yes, twenty-seven 
times the waves of wild Eastern war have beaten upon 

its embattled walls. It has a storv of trial and suffering 

j <_> 

probably without a parallel in the history of any other 
spot, yet it still remains a fine city of probably 50,000 
or 60,000 inhabitants, to which the Jews of recent 
years have been crowding back. 2 The literal Sion in 
this is a type of the Church militant. Jerusalem may 
indeed fitly stand as an image of the believing- and 
ever-tried people of God, cast down from time to 
time, but never destroyed, for they are endowed with an 
indestructible life. 

The gates of Jerusalem, like those of all Oriental 
towns, consist of high, massive, two-leaved, wooden 
doors, covered with strong, thin iron or copper plates 
riveted to them, and they are further strengthened by 
ribs or bars of the same metals 3 — the Bible ' gates of 
iron and copper.' The word translated 'brass' in our 
Bible, in the Old Testament, nekkoasket/i, is ' copper.' 
They made this, rather than iron, their strongest metal, 

1 Luke xxi. 20. 

2 A full and interesting account of this remarkable return of the 
Jews to Palestine is given by Mr. James Neil in his Palesti?ie Re-peopled, 
22nd edition, pp. 8-37 (Messrs. Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.). 

3 Ps. cxlvii. 13. 



JERUSALEM 



119 



having a process, now lost, by which they hardened 
copper to a steel-like strength. Hence the accuracy 
with which the Bible speaks of copper as we should 
of steel. 1 This putting thin plates of metal over wooden 
gates accounts for ' gates of iron ' and ' gates of copper ' 
being destroyed by fire, as we read four times in 
Nehemiah. 2 What took place in these cases was the 
burning of the solid wood doors, sometimes made of 
beams 6 inches thick, when the thin plates of iron 
and copper would fall off. These gates, as in all Eastern 
towns, are shut at sunset for the night. In allusion 
to this we read of the New Jerusalem that comes down 
from God out of heaven, that in this abode of the blest, 
' its gates shall never be shut by day, for there shall 
be no night there ! ' 3 

The most picturesque view of the city is that looking 
up from the south end of the valley of the Kidron, 
where it joins the valley of the Son of Hinnom. But 
the most extensive of all the views is that to be had 
' from Mount Scopus, the lofty hill to the north-east, 
whence Jerusalem lies spread out in its greatest extent, 
and in the most striking aspect of its surroundings. Not 
only is this view of the Holy City the widest and grandest, 
but, what in the East is still more delightful, it is 

1 Judges xvi. 21; 2 Kings xxv. 7; Zech. vi. 1 ; Ps. cvii. 16; 
Isa. xlv. 2 ; &c. 

2 Neh. i. 3, ii. 3, 13, 17. 3 Rev. xxi. 25. 



i2o RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 

eminently the greenest\ The "grass," or wild growth of 
the Bible, flourishes on the hills of Palestine mostly on 
the north and north-east slopes, leaving the opposite 
southern sides comparatively bare, or clothed chiefly 
with desert species of plants of whitish or sea-green 
foliage. Three causes plainly account for this : First, 
the semi-tropical winter rain, the geshem, or "gushing 
downpour" of our Bible, from November to April, 
which comes from the west and south-west, and washes 
away the soil on that side 1 : secondly, the burning sun, 
scorching down, unshaded by a single cloud, almost all 
day for some six months running, from May to October, 
pouring its rays from the south : last, but not least, 
the terrible shirocco, the burning "south," or "east" 
(strictly south-east) wind of the Bible, which in May 
and October (it is happily confined to these two months, 
the most dangerous in the year in Palestine) comes up 
from the south-east over the vast Arabian deserts, and 
beats on the south and south-eastern slopes like the 
blast of a furnace, almost entirely deprived of ozone, 
and possessed of a fearfully withering power. 2 

' Hence the country must always have looked greenest 
and best when viewed from the north, a direction which 

1 i Kings xviii. 44, 45 ; Luke xii. 54 ; see also Prov. xxv. 23, where 
the north wind is said to drive away rain, which is always the case now. 

2 Job xxxvii. 9, 17 ; Isa. xxi. 1 ; Zech. ix. 14 ; Luke xii. 55 ; Gen. 
xli. 6 ; Job xxvii. 21 ; Ezek. xvii. 10, xix. 12. 



JERUSALEM 



I 2 I 




CHRIST CHURCH, MOUNT ZION, JERUSALEM, SEEN IN A SNOWSTORM 



all travellers should, if possible, take when they traverse 
it in spring. This would appear to explain why David 



12 2 



RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



singles out " the sides of the north/' or " northern sides," 
in speaking of the beauty of Zion, in a passage which 
has much perplexed the commentators — 

Beautiful [for] elevation, the joy of the whole land, 
Mount Zion, sides of the north ! 
The city of the great King ! 1 

Not only is the view wider and more imposing from 
the northern standpoint, not only from here the hills 
around look greenest and loveliest, but also the steep 
slopes themselves, lifted up on the brow of which 
Jerusalem stands as on a proud pedestal, as well as 
the trees, shrubs, courtyard cultivation, and- the few 
" rose-gardens which existed from the days of the first 
prophets," 2 within the walls, must have appeared most 
verdant, and therefore to greatest advantage, from the 
" northern sides." 

' The name which Jeremiah gives to the city, " The 

1 Ps. xlviii. 2. The word I have translated 'elevation,' noaph, is a 
remarkable term, from a root which is used of lifting up and offering to 
God the wave offering. It is also used of lifting up to threaten. The 
word seems very beautifully and suggestively to convey the idea of a 
city lifted up on the mountains — it is 2,500 feet above the level of the 
sea, at the summit of the water-shed, and rises from the brow of steep 
slopes and precipices — of a city offered to God as the sacred home of 
His worship, the place of His presence, and also of one which, as 
peculiarly under His protection, may defy its foes. 

2 These, according to the Talmud, were the only gardens which 
police regulations allowed in the Holy City (Bama Kama, p. 82 b). - 



JERUSALEM 123 

Table-land Rock," is singularly appropriate. 1 It is a 
table-land surface on the summit of seven associated 
hills, rising up like one massive crag or rock out of 
surrounding valleys — namely, " the nahhal (or ' water- 
course valley,' the Arabic l wady') of Kidron" on 
the north and east, and " the gay (or ' gorgelike-glen ') 
of Hinnom" on the west and south. I say like one 
massive rock, for the whole city is composed on the 
surface and to a great depth beneath of tertiary lime- 
stone. The upper stratum, which is an exceedingly hard 
silicious chalk with bands of flint, called by the Arabs 
mizzey, has a depth of 71 feet. It is of marble-like 
hardness which increases with exposure to the air. 
I have had occasion to excavate much of this mizzey 
stone upon my own grounds on Mount Gareb, and have 
good reason to know how exceedingly hard, difficult 
of cleavage, and durable it is. Hence it was perfectly 
natural that Mount Zion should have been pre-eminently 
regarded from the earliest times as " the Table-land 
Rock," the natural, immovable, stone fortress of Judah's 
" everlasting hills." 

' And this leads me to the intensely interesting 
modern recovery of the ancient stronghold of Zion, 
which was regarded in the days of David as the 
Gibraltar of Palestine fortifications. The very blind 

1 Jer. xxi. 13. The Hebrew is tsoor hammeeshoan^ literally 'Rock 
of the table-land,' or 'level down '—that is, ' the Table-land Rock.' 



i2 4 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 

and the lame, so said the Jebusites, could here turn 
David and his forces away. 1 Josephus gives a magnificent 
account of the defences of the city, natural and artificial, 
in his day, and especially at or about this point. The first 




JERUSALEM AFTER A SNOWSTORM, A RARE SIGHT, ONLY SEEN 
ABOUT ONCE IN SEVEN YEARS 



of its three walls ran round the summit of Mount Zion. 
It had sixty towers. " The largeness of the stones," 
he says. " in three of these was wonderful." They were 



2-Sam. v. 6-8. 



JERUSALEM 



white marble (mizzey), 27 feet long by 10 feet broad, 
and 5 feet deep. 1 

' In 1874 Mr. Henry Maudslay, following the former 
work of Sir Charles Warren, fully explored and laid 
bare the rock foundation of this wall on the south-west 
brow of Mount Zicn, in all probability the famous 
Jebusite fortress, " the stronghold of Zion." 2 It proved 
indeed a magnificent natural fastness, rendered by 
human art practically impregnable. The limestone 
crag at this point appeared as a perpendicular scarp, 
that is, cut smooth and straight as a wall, to an average 
height of 30 feet, as far as the Turkish authorities would 
allow him to lay it bare, a distance of some 130 yards. 
A base of a huge tower was exposed to view, in 
the shape of a projecting buttress 45 feet square, also 
scarped, that is, cut straight as a wall. Thirty-six 
steps were seen cut in the face of this rock wall for 
the purpose of ascending to the top of a second smaller 
projecting square buttress, the base of a second tower. 
The bases of three towers were found to contain no 
less than eighteen beers, or water-cisterns, hewn in the 
rock. These " cisterns to receive rain-water," and 
these "steps" are specially described by Josephus. 3 

1 Josephus's Wars oj the Jews, Bk. V. chap. iv. sec. 4. 

2 For the exact position, see the black line at No. 1 on the sketch 
map of Jerusalem, page 126. 

3 Josephus's Wars of the Jeivs, Bk. V. chap. iv. sec. 3. 



i26 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



A number of fallen stones, from 3 to 4 feet 
long, were found at the bottom with marks indicating 
Roman work. A ditch 20 feet wide was found at 




SKETCH MAP OF JERUSALEM AND THE SURROUNDING HILLS 



the foot of this scarp with a steep, rough rock-slope 
below, and, in one place at least, a second deeper 
scarp beneath the other, giving a rock-cut, perpendicular 
face of some 50 feet in height ! 



JERUSALEM 



127 




THE CATTLE-MARKET AT JERUSALEM 

' Well might David, rejoicing in the security of 

God's people, allude in triumphant language to these 

remarkable features as fitting symbols of the divine 

protection, and to the awe with which they struck the 

minds of those monarchs who came to besiege the city 

when they first beheld them— 

Beautiful for elevation — the joy of the whole land 
Is Mount Zion. 

For lo ! the kings were assembled, they marched on together. 
They beheld, and so they marvelled, they were troubled, they hasted 
away. 



i28 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



Walk about Zion, and go round about her, count her towers ; 

Mark ye well her bulwarks. . . . 

For this God is our God for ever and ever, 

He will Himself be our guide over death. 1 

' This rock-cut scarp thus exposed, and which, if 
the authorities had not interfered, would doubtless have 
been traced round much of the city, must have formed 
part of the lofty, immovable foundation upon which the 
mighty wall Josephus describes was reared. Towers 
of amazing strength must once have stood out on the 
projecting buttress-like bases. But not one stone of 
these remains upon another ! Well has Colonel Conder, 
R.E., pointed out that this scarp is peculiarly " valuable 
as showing that, however the masonry may have been 
destroyed or lost, we may yet hope to find indications of 
the ancient enceinte [boundary wall] in the rock scarps, 
which are imperishable." True indeed ! Man can destroy 
the mightiest works of his own hands, but the ''ever- 
lasting hills," with their mizzey rock, defy his rage ! 
Who can gaze on this piece of the ancient stony strong- 
hold of Jebus without perceiving the force and sublimity 
of the words of the inspired Pilgrim song, which set 
forth the immovable steadfastness of the believer — 

They that trust in Jehovah are as Mount Zion, 
Which shall not be moved, it abideth for ever! 2 

1 Ps. xlviii. 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, 14. 

2 Ps. cxxv. 1. This is called 'a song of degrees,' or 'of goings 
up,' and was probably sung on journeys to Sion. 



JERUSALEM 



129 



' Equally striking, as viewed at the Holy City, are 
the words of the next verse, which tell of the security 
of the Lord's people — 

Jerusalem ! mountains are round about her ; 
And Jehovah is round about His people, 
Henceforth, even for evermore. 

' Deep, narrow valleys surround most of the city. 
On the south, as I have said, is ''the gay, or gorge-like 
glen, of Hinnom," on the north and east " the nahhaL 
or water-course valley, of Kiclron," and beyond these 




THE KUBBET ES SAKHRA ('THE DOME OF THE ROCK 5 ), IN THE 
HAREM ESH SHEREEF (' THE NOBLE SANCTUARY '), THE TEMPLE 
AREA, JERUSALEM 



9 



RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



rise a series of connected mountains like a system of 
huo^e natural out-works. On the north and north-east 
stands Mount Scopus, on the east the Mount of Olives, 
on the south-east the Mount of Offence (so called from 
the temple of Solomon's heathen wives having been 
built there), and on the south and south-west the Hill 
of Evil Counsel, where, according to tradition, the Jews 
took counsel to put our Lord to death. These features 
may be well observed by a visit to the Science and Art 
Department of the South Kensington Museum, where 
a model is now to be seen of the rock levels, showing 
the ground of the city as it stood formerly, before it 
was covered with debris as it is now, in one spot to 
the astounding depth of 125 feet. 

' And here I can well imagine the sceptic exclaiming, 
"Do you call these slight elevations 'mountains'? 
Why, they are only very small hills ! The loftiest 
of them, Mount Scopus, does not rise more than about 
1 50 feet above the highest point of the city, and only 
some 400 feet above the deepest point of the valley 
at its foot. Is this the accuracy of the Bible?" To 
him I should reply that, though it has been generally 
overlooked, they are, indeed, in the fullest sense of the 
English word, " mountains," for each of these apparently 
small hillocks is the summit of a mountain mass that 
all must allow is indeed respectable. Scopus is 
2,724 feet above the level of the sea, the Mount of 



JERUSALEM 



Olives 2,641 feet, the Mount of Offence 2,411 feet, 
and the Hill of Evil Counsel 2,548 feet. Thus each 
of these comparatively slight elevations above the 
surrounding country is indeed a true mountain peak. 
Why. in the whole county of Kent there is not a point 
of ground above 900 feet high ! But this is not all. 
The Hebrew word "mountain," kar. is given in 
Scripture both to the highland, or mountain region, in 
general, and also to any hill, ridge, or hog's back, such 
as Scopus or Olivet. Thus Ebal and Gerizim are each 
called a har, or " mountain." 1 Zion, which is lower 
than most of the hills that stand round it, is repeatedly 
spoken of as a liar, while Olivet itself is in one place 
actually called by this name. It is, therefore, literally 
and minutely accurate to speak of the Holy City as 
surrounded by liarim, or " mountains."' 

4 M The mountains " in a most striking manner are 
indeed " round about her." With their deep, narrow, 
intervening valleys, more or less precipitous on each 
side, they stand like vast earthworks and fosses — a 
natural fortification around u the city of the Great 
Kinor." ' 2 

o 

The most interesting of all the sights in Jerusalem 
is the south-east portion of the city, where an open 

1 Joshua viii. 33. 

2 Strange Scenes, by James Neil, M.A., T2oth thousand, pp. 22-8 
(Messrs. Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.). 



RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



space, bounded on the east and south by the walls of 
the city, some thirty-five acres in extent, contains at its 
south side the mosque of Al Aska, and near its 
centre the famous and beautiful building called the 
Kubbet es Sakhra (' the Dome of the Rock '), a mukam, 
or shrine, connected with the mosque. This 1 Dome 
of the Rock ' is the most conspicuous building in the 
city, and is of deepest interest, for the sacred rock it 
encloses is probably the spot where Abraham prepared 
to offer up Isaac, and was, in the Temple of Solomon 
and afterwards that of Herod, either the spot where 
the Holy of Holies stood, or else where the brazen 
altar of burnt sacrifice was placed in front of the 
Sanctuary. For this large enclosure, about a mile round, 
deeply venerated by the Mohammedans, who now 
possess it, and call it the Harem Esh Shereef, ' the 
Noble Sanctuary,' is, without doubt, the old Temple 
area. At its north-west boundary stands the official 
residence of the Pasha, or Governor, of Jerusalem, 
and, adjoining it, the barracks of the town. Nothing 
changes in the changeless East, and here we know 
was the Residency, the Palace, where Pontius Pilate 
resided, and the Castle of Antonia, the city barracks, 
in the days of Christ. 

Not far from the Jaffa Gate and well within the 
city is the church of the Sepulchre, where the Church 
of Rome (here called Latinee), the Greek Church (called 




INTERIOR OF THE KUBBET ES SAKHRA ('THE DOME OF THE ROCK'") 



i34 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 

Roomie), the Greek Catholic, the Armenian, Coptic, 
Syrian, Georgian, and other superstitious and idolatrous 
Churches of the East have their own shrines. Here 
every year, at the Greek Easter, a pretended miracle, 
■ a lying wonder,' under the auspices and authority ot 
the Greek Church, shameful to say, annually takes 
place, the so-called miracle of the Holy Fire, when it is 
pretended that sacred fire is miraculously kindled in 
the so-called tomb of the Lord. Colonel Conder, in 
his Tent Work in Palestine, gives a most graphic 
account of this disgraceful scene, 1 and an equally fine 
description of it is given by Miss Rogers in her very 
able work Domestic Life in Syria. Travellers are 
taken to see many sites in this church, but we can 
feel little interest in it. It cannot possibly be built 
over the tomb of our Lord or the place of His death, 
as Constantine asserted when, in a.d. 335, he first 
erected a shrine here. One who resided long in 
Jerusalem and well knows it, truly says : ' Nowhere on 
the face of the earth is Christianity now disgraced to 
such an extent as in this building. The greatest fraud 
of all time [the so-called miracle of the Holy Fire] is 
perpetrated annually within its walls, and carried to a 
successful issue by the very bishops and priests them- 
selves. Nowhere in all the world is blind, superstitious 
folly and sectarian hatred so diligently engaged in 
1 Tent Work in Palestine, 1st edition, Vol. I. pp. 335-45. 



JERUSALEM 



i35 



distorting the truth of Christ's teaching. How can 
any one possibly believe, however much he is inclined 
to, that all that is degrading, disgusting, and untrue 
should still be associated with the last earthly resting- 
place of the Saviour of mankind ? Surely the 
blasphemous and idolatrous practices of ages are enough 
in themselves to show that there can be no truth in 
the alleged site that marks the place of suffering of our 
Great Redeemer.' 

Just outside the present city now, but in what, from 
the extensive ruins all around, must have been a part 
of it in our Lord's day, at a cave long known as 
Jeremiah's Grotto, a cliff close by bears some rude 
resemblance to a skull. Some identify this place as 
Calvary, General Gordon having first called public atten- 
tion to it. But Calvary, the place of execution, could 
not possibly have been, as this is, within a large and 
flourishing suburb of Jerusalem, any more than Joseph 
of Arimathaea's tomb could have been where the church 
of the Sepulchre stands. In all probability the true 
Calvary is on the side of the hill to the north ot 
Jerusalem, on the east side, which must always have 
been outside the walls, and adjoining the ancient Jewish 
burial-ground, and is fronted by a great natural amphi- 
theatre formed by Mount Scopus and Mount Olivet, 
where immense numbers, ' standing afar off,' could have 
watched the crucifixion, and where the priests, on the 



136 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



battlements of the Temple about half a mile away, 
could have railed, as we are told they did, upon the 
dying Saviour, and this is one of the few spots where 
they could have done so. Let it be remembered that 
the priests on duty were not likely on this ' day of 
the preparation ' to have left the courts of the Temple, 
and that the spoken voice can be heard quite distinctly, 
in the dry, pure air of Palestine, to a distance of two 
miles when there is no wind blowing. 

Along the exterior western wall of the Temple area, 
outside where the stones are of immense size, and seem 
to be in the place where they were originally laid by 
Solomon, Jews have for generations congregated — it 
being the nearest point of the Temple to which they 
are allowed to go — to kiss these venerable relics of 
their once 'holy and beautiful House' — the Temple. 
A most sad and solemn assembly takes place at this 
Wailing-Place each Friday afternoon, just before the 
Sabbath commences that day at sunset. Here, with strong 
crying and tears, Jewish men, women, and children, 
residents in Jerusalem, and pilgrims from many lands, 
may be seen in agonized supplications. 

To the south-west of the city, outside, close by the 
Zion Gate, stand a cluster of houses round what the 
Mohammedans declare to be the tomb of David. 
This is on Mount Zion, and no doubt in or near this 
spot will one day be found the tombs of the good kings 



JERUSALEM 



i37 



of Judah, who 
all, together with 
David, were 
buried in splendid 
sepulchres some- 
where near here. 
It will be a won- 
derful find of the 
deepest interest, 
and it is possible 
that ancient rolls 
of the law may 
be discovered in 
these tombs, 
amongst many 
other treasures. 

The v a 1 1 e y 
which, beginning 
to the south-west 
of Jerusalem, runs 

alone the south of it at the foot of Mounts Zion and 
Ophel, is undoubtedly the valley, or gay, of Hinnom. 
The Hebrew word gay is a rocky, waterless gorge, or 
narrow glen, and the gay of Hinnom is one of the most 
picturesque spots near the Holy City. Notwithstanding, 
it gave its name, Gehenna, to the place of the lost, 
for ' hell,' in this sense, in the New Testament, is in 




PULPIT IN THE MOSQUE OF EL AKSA ('THE FAR-OFF 
MOSQUE'), IN THE TEMPLE AEEA, JERUSALEM 



i3§ 



RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



most instances this word. 1 It came about from this 
rocky glen being the place where fires were kept burning 
day and night to destroy the filth of the city, which 
was brought down to the destructors for this purpose. 
Here 'the worm never died' in the heaps of filth 
brought to be destroyed ; and 1 the fire was never 
quenched ' that day and night was kept for this purpose. 2 
On the south side of the valley of Hinnom is a ruin 
bearing the name of Aceldama, on the edge of one 
of the rocky cliffs in this part of the glen, which has 
been supposed to preserve the site of the ground pur- 
chased with the thirty pieces of silver, which Judas 
received for betraying Jesus, but which were afterwards 
thrown down by him in his despair, when ' he went 
and hanged himself.' 3 A solitary and conspicuous tree 
is shown, not far from this, which tradition — with more 
than usual folly, for it cannot be many hundred years 
old — says was the tree he used for this purpose ! The 
scriptural accounts of this act of suicide seem, at first 
sight, quite contradictory. In Matthew, as we have 
seen, it is said ' he went and hanged himself,' and in 
Acts i. 1 8 we read that Judas 1 purchased a field with 

1 Matt. v. 22, 29, x. 28, xviii. 9, xxiii. 15, 33 ; Mark ix. 43, 
45> 47- 

2 Mark ix. 48. The same words occur in the Authorized Version in 
vv. 44 and 46; but are left out in the Revised Version, as the best 
ancient authorities omit them. 

3 Matt, xxvii. 3-10; Acts i. 18, 19 ; Zech. xi. 12, 13. 



JERUSALEM 



139 



the wages of his iniquity ; and falling headlong, he 
burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed 
out.' But nothing is easier than to reconcile the two 
accounts. The field or portion of ground he had 
apparently agreed to purchase, but had not paid for 
(because he still had the money, which he cast down and 
left at the feet of the chief priests and elders in the 
temple), was the place to which he rushed in his despair. 
The rope he must have fastened at the top of one 
of the rocky cliffs to some tree, and having placed the 
noose round his neck, he must have cast himself over, 
when, the rope breaking with the strain, he fell 'headlong 
and burst asunder.' This simple explanation reconciles 
all, and we can now further understand how the priests, 
who would naturally be applied to by the vendor when 
the story became known, would be glad to hush the 
matter up by completing the purchase of the land, and 
setting it aside as a burial ground for 'strangers,' the 
despised foreigners, or Gentiles. 

On the east of the city runs the valley that in so 
many maps is wrongly called the valley of Jehoshaphat, 
but the only name of which in the Bible is 4 the nahkal 
of Kedron,' ' the zvady, or watercourse valley, of Kedron, 
or Kidron.' 1 It is of this valley we read that Jesus, 
the night before He died, ' went forth with His disciples 

1 2 Sam. xv. 23; 1 Kings ii. 37, xv. 13; 2 Kings xxiii. 4, 6, 12; 
2 Chron. xv. 16, xxix. 16, xxx. 14; Jer. xxxi. 40. 



i4o RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 




p 



over the brook 
Cedron, where was 
a garden, into the 
which He entered 
with His disciples.' 1 
Tradition shows 
two rival gardens 
now in this valley, 
one belonging- to 
the Churc h o f 
Rome and the other 
to the Greek 
Church! Some- 
where in this valley 
no doubt was this 
deeply interesting 
spot, exactly where 
we do not know, 
though probably 
considerably fur- 
ther down to the 
south than the traditional spots, for the only gardens 
near Jerusalem are situated together in a cluster just 
where the Kedron, or Kidron, joins the valley of the 
Son of Hinnom. Here, and here only, exists the means 
of watering them. A garden, as we have seen, in 

1 John xviii. i. 



A STREET LEADING TO JEWS WAILING- 
PLACE, JERUSALEM 



JERUSALEM 



Mi 



Palestine, must be irrigated once a week. Hence all 
gardens must be by springs or streams, or immense 
artificial pools or reservoirs. This has naturally been 
overlooked by commentators. Matthew and Mark tell 
us its name was Gethsemane. 1 Wherever it may have 
been situated, it is a place of deepest interest, for 1 Jesus 
often thither resorted with His disciples.' - Indeed, His 
visits there were so constant that Judas, who knew the 
place, calculated for certain on rinding Him there. This 
is the only recreation of the Lord Jesus of which we 
are told — frequent visits to a garden. How closely He 
watched and loved nature we know from the beautiful 
illustrations drawn from the life of the held with which 
His discourses abound. We may learn from this how 
pure and wholesome are the delights of a garden. He 
who had not where to lay His head had no garden 
of His own, but, none the less, turned from all the 
attractions of the city to find natural solace and pleasure 
in one which He and His disciples were permitted to 
visit. There was a singular fitness in the fact that He 
who was ' the second Adam.' and who came to regain 
for man his lost Paradise, should specially spend so much 
time and take such delight in a garden. 

This valley of Kidron was. and still is. the great 
cemetery of Palestine. The Jewish burials appear 
to have been at a safe distance on the east side of the 

1 Matt. xxvi. 36 ; Mark xiv. 32, 2 John xviii. 2, 



i42 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



valley, but the Mohammedans prefer the western side, 
close to the city. Three very remarkable sepulchral 
monuments are conspicuous on the Jewish or eastern 
burial-ground. The first is called Absalom's Pillar. 
It is 1 9^ feet square and 20 feet high, and is cut 
out of the solid rock. It is supposed to represent 
that which we are told this proud, bad son of David 
himself built. • Now Absalom in his lifetime had 
taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in 
the king's dale.' 1 A huge rent disfigures it, and into 
this the Jews as they go by throw stones, to express 
their abhorrence of this wicked and unnatural son. On 
a line going south is the tomb called the Tomb of 
St. James, and close by it the tomb of Zechariah. 
This last, like the tomb of Absalom, is cut out of the 
solid rock, and goes back to the days of Herod. The 
Jews claim that it is built in memory of the Zechariah 
of 2 Chron. xxiv. 20, the martyred son of the high 
priest whom they stoned to death for his witness 
against idolatry ; but the Christians look upon it as 
that of the Zechariah whose martyrdom is spoken of 
by our Lord as one of the latest up to His time. 1 * 

Tombs are found in astonishing numbers around 
Jerusalem. They abound on the south side of the 
valley of Hinnom as well as to the north and east. 
Very fine and extensive are the sepulchral monuments 
1 2 Sam. xviii. 18. 2 Matt, xxiii. 35. 



i44 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



hewn in the rock, known as the Tombs of the Kings, 
in the olive grove half a mile to the north of the 
Damascus Gate, and the Tombs of the Judges, a mile 
north-west of those of the Kings. The so-called Tombs 
of the Prophets near the summit of Olivet is a very 
extensive and mysterious set of excavations. In the 
valley of the Kidron, where it first begins, a short 
distance north-east of the Tombs of the Kings, are the 
tombs of Simon the Just, and of members of the 
Sanhedrin. These are frequented by Jews as places of 
worship on certain festival days. Like all the sects in 
the East, they make vows in reference to shaving off 
the hair from their own and their children's heads in 
honour of some saint or shrine. 
Dr. Thomson has w r ell said : 

' On the general subject of " wellies " and sacred 
tombs, have you ever thought of the interpretation 
put upon them by our Lord ? In Luke we read, 
"Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the 
prophets, and your fathers killed them. Truly ye bear 
witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers : for 
they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres." 1 
How ? Why ? Might not the Pharisees have replied 
that by honouring their remains and their memory, 
they condemned their murderers ? 

' The greatest sin of Israel and the world was, and 
1 Luke xi. 47, 48. 



JERUSALEM 



H5 



is, apostasy from the true God and His worship by 
idolatry ; and the most prevalent mode of this apostasy 
is sacrilegious reverence for dead men's tombs and 
bones. This is the most prevalent superstition in the 
great empire of China ; and in Western Asia, Jews, 
Moslems, Metawelies, Druses, Nesairiyeh, Ismailiyeh, 
Kurds, Yezedy, Gipsies, and all sort of Christians, 
are addicted to it. Every village has its saints' tombs, 
every hilltop is crowned with the white dome of some 
neby, or prophet. Thither all resort to garnish the 
sepulchres, burn incense and consecrated candles, fulfil 
vows, make offerings, and pray. So fanatical are they 
in their zeal, that they would tear any man to pieces 
who should put dishonour upon these sacred shrines. 
Enter that at Hebron, for example, and they would 
instantly sacrifice you to their fury. 

' Now, it was for rebuking this and other kinds of 
idolatry that " the fathers killed the prophets " ; and 
those who built their tombs would in like manner kill 
any one who condemned their idolatrous reverence for 
these very sepulchres. Thus the Pharisees, by the 
very act of building those tombs of the prophets and 
honouring them as they did, showed plainly that they 
were actuated by the same spirit that led their fathers 
to kill them ; and, to make these matters self-evident, 
they very soon proceeded to crucify the Lord of the 
prophets because of His faithful rebukes. Nor has 

10 



146 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



this spirit changed in the least in the subsequent eighteen 
hundred years. Now, here in Jerusalem, should the 
Saviour reappear and condemn with the same severity 
our modern Pharisees, they zvould kill Him on His 
ozvn reputed tomb. I say this not with a faltering 
perhaps, but with a painful certainty. Alas ! how 
many thousands of God's people have been slaughtered 
because of their earnest and steadfast protest against 
pilgrimages, idolatrous worship of saints, tombs, bones, 
images, and pictures ! And whenever I see people 
particularly zealous in building, repairing, or serving 
these shrines, I know them to be the ones who allow 
the deeds of those who killed the prophets, and would 
do the same under like circumstances. If you doubt, 
and are willing to become a martyr, make the experiment 
to-morrow, in this very city. You may blaspheme the 
Godhead, through all the divine persons, offices, and 
attributes, in safety ; but insult these dead men's shrines, 
and woe be to you ! 

' It was probably that he might render apostasy into 
this insane idolatry impossible to a faithful Jew that 
Moses made the mere touching of a grave or of a 
dead bone contamination. The person thus polluted 
could not enter his tent, or unite in any religious 
services. He was unclean seven days, and was obliged 
to go through a tedious and expensive process of 
purification. And, still more, if the person could not 



148 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



purify himself, he was cut off from the congregation 
and destroyed. Strange, that even this stern law was 
not sufficient to restrain the Jews from worshipping 
dead men's graves.' 1 

On the eastern side of the Kidron valley rises 
the Mount of Olives, ' the Mount of Olives, which is 
before Jerusalem on the east.' 2 Here many modern 
buildings have risen since 1875. But the mount 
remains the same as when the feet of Jesus must so 
often have trodden it on His way to and from the 
little village of Bethany on its eastern slopes. Three 
stony paths, apparently, like all else in this land, most 
ancient, lead up to the summit. A magnificent view 
is there obtained. Turning west, Jerusalem, ' the city of 
the great King,' 3 lies all in sight, stretched out on its 
seven mountains. ' It is a scene of surpassing interest, on 
which thousands have gazed in wonderment and ecstasy 
year after year for ages. There is no view in the 
wide world with which it may be compared, for no 
other city has witnessed events of such importance 
to the human race.' Looking east, the eye sees all 
over the north end of the wilderness of Judea to the 
plain, where ' the Jordan rolls its waters in their tortuous 
bed,' down to the Dead Sea, the north end of which, with 

1 The Land and the Book, by W. M. Thomson, D.D., pp. 639-40 
(Messrs. T. Nelson & Sons). 

2 Zech. xiv. 4. 3 Matt, v. 35. 



JERUSALEM 



149 



its deep blue waters, is plainly visible. Bounding the 
view, all along the further side of the Jordan valley 
and the Dead Sea, rises a mighty natural wall, almost 
4,000 feet high, consisting of the mountains of Gilead, 
and, south of these, the mountains of Moab. No 
language can do justice to the beauty of this range 
as seen at times from Olivet. Its wondrous colouring, 
Mr. W. Holman Hunt has told us, no painter can hope 
fully to depict. 

Mrs. Finn, speaking of the delightful winter season 
at Jerusalem, in her charming story entitled Home Life 
in the Holy Land, says : 

' Excepting an occasional day of high wind, almost 
always followed by two or three days of rain, the winter 
was extremely mild. As soon as the sun shone out, 
all was fair. The rain ran off immediately from the 
roads and hilly ground, or was dried up by the wind 
and sun ; so that there were but few days in which we 
could not go out. Apart from the deep interest of the 
places themselves, our walks were rendered delightful 
by the fine clear mountain air, and the ever-varying 
view of hill, valley, and plain. The mountains of Moab 
almost always formed part of the distant view. The 
singularly even outline of the top of this range has 
been well compared, by Chateaubriand, to a line drawn 
in a picture, which has irregularities caused by the 
shaking of the artist's hand. But there was no same- 



i5o RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



ness in the aspect of the Moab mountains. Promontories 
jutted out, and deep-cleft ravines furrowed their sides. 
From the high ground near Jerusalem the receding 
tableland on this summit could be distinguished, 
especially when covered with snow, as it sometimes 
was ; and the tints of violet, blue, and grey ever varied 
upon them as the sun rose to the meridian height ; and 
when his evening rays, slanting from the far south, 
rested upon them, they reflected back his light in 
gorgeous hues — crimson, purple, ultramarine — while 
every rugged prominence shone like burnished gold. 
I could not have conceived anything so wonderful as 
these mountains were one stormy evening, when the 
sun burst forth from behind heavy masses of cloud 
in the west. The magnificence of colouring was beyond 
description. Every craggy front was pencilled out in 
gold ; and the glowing masses of crimson and blue 
were exquisitely relieved by the cool greys of the fore- 
ground ; and these set off again by the rich brown of 
some newly ploughed fields ; and the walls and battle- 
ments of the Holy City bathed in a soft, rich yellow, 
such as I have never seen elsewhere, and which made 
the stones look as if changed into transparent gold. 

1 We stood and watched until the sun set. First 
the lower part of the Moab mountains was cast into 
shade and the purple colour changed into wondrous 
blue, which stole higher and higher as the shade 



JERUSALEM 



mounted. The light forsook the city, but the warm 
rays lingered a moment on the top of Olivet. Suddenly 
a cold grey fell upon the landscape, for — the sun was 
gone. The sky still, for a short time, retained its 
beauty above the grey mountains, in changeful tints 
of pink, orange, green, fading into clear, cold blue. 
They told me that this was the winter colouring of 
the Moab mountains, and I found them very different 
in summer.' 1 

The position of Jerusalem on the very summit 
of this part of the central limestone range necessitates 
an ascent to it from whatever side it is approached. 
The fourteen 'songs of ascendings ' (Ps. exxi. to 
exxxiv.) appear, as we have seen, to have been the 
caravan psalms, composed to be sung to cheer their 
journeys to Zion from all parts of the country, three 
times a year, at the great festivals. The first words of 
the first of these — 

I will lift up my eyes unto the mountains, 
From whence comes my help. 
My help is from Jehovah — 2 

w.ould seem clearly to mean, ' My gaze is towards the 
Holy City, my hope of help is there.' The reader will 
call to mind how Solomon, in his long and beautiful 
dedicatory prayer at the opening of the Temple, 

1 Home Life in the Holy Land, by Mrs. E. A. Finn, pp. 6o-i, 

2 Ps. exxi. T, 



1 52 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 

implores Jehovah to hear and answer all prayer that is 
offered up by those who looked, whilst praying, towards 
the House of God which he had built. This, seven 
times running, 1 he proposed as a covenant to Jehovah, 
and the Lord answered, ratifying the covenant by fire 
from heaven, and the ' the glory of Jehovah [the 
Shekinah Cloud] filled the house.' 2 This was why, 
when Daniel prayed to God in Babylon, at the risk 
of his life, he did so, * his windows being open in his 
chambers towards Jerusalem.' 3 How important is the 
spiritual teaching of prayer being heard and answered 
in the case of those of Israel who prayed looking towards 
the Temple at Jerusalem ! The Tabernacle, and after- 
wards the Temple, was throughout a type or picture 
of Christ — His Person, His work, and His relations 
to His people. This being so, how beautiful is the 
antitype ! All who look to Jesus when they pray will 
assuredly be heard and answered, for He has said, 
' Amen, amen, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask 
of the Father in My name, He will give it you.' 4 
' Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, 
that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye 
shall ask anything in My name, I will do it.' 5 

1 i Kings viii. 29, 30, 35, 38, 41, 44, 48. 3 Dan. vi. 10. 

2 2 Chron. vii. 1, 2. 4 John xvi. 23. 

5 John xiv. 13-14. 



CHAPTER VI 



JERUSALEM TO BEER-SHEBA 

In the streets of Jerusalem, as in all the towns of 
Palestine, one is struck with the number of beggars. 
Huge heaps of refuse and rubbish are to be met with 
outside all Oriental towns and villages, kept dry, and 
from time to time burnt. The poorest of the people, 
by way of effect, constantly seat themselves in this 
unsavoury position, to heighten the appearance of their 
poverty, and to awaken sympathy. Thus we read in 
Hannah's prayer of thanksgiving that Jehovah 

Raiseth up the poor out of the dust, 

He lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill 1 ; 

and in Lamentations we are told of the ruin of the rich, 

They that were brought up on scarlet embrace dunghills. 2 

But after you have been here a little time you begin 

1 i Sam. ii. 8 ; see also Ps. cxiii. 7. 

2 Lam. iv. 5. The divans, or raised couches, in the town reception- 
rooms are mostly covered with scarlet or crimson. 'Brought up on 
scarlet ' means ' nurtured on rich and luxurious couches.' 

i53 



i54 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



to realize what a very different position the ' beggar ' 
occupies throughout the East. Begging in Bible lands 
is not disreputable, as with us. So far from its being, 
as it is here, illegal, it is regarded as quite a proper 
way of earning a livelihood when overtaken by mis- 
fortune. The aged, the blind, cripples, the sick and 
infirm, have no other resource amidst the institutions 
of the East than to beg at the gates of cities, or at 
those of the houses of the rich, or in front of places 
of worship. No system similar to our poor-law relief, 
and no institutions or asylums for the sick, crippled, 
or poor, either have, or ever had, any place in Palestine 
life. This accounts most naturally for the three beggars 
we read of in the New Testament being all good men : 
the man born blind, 1 Bartimaeus, 2 and Lazarus in the 
parable. 3 

Jerusalem is accounted by the Jews one of the four 
' holy ' cities of Palestine (the others being Hebron, 
Tiberias, and Safed), at which lepers are allowed to 
live. No sadder sight can be imagined than that of 
these poor afflicted creatures sitting by the roadside in 
the dust, 4 which so largely accumulates in the summer, 
or on the 1 dunghill,' as beggars, some with eyes, 
nose, and cheeks eaten away in frightful disfigurement. 

1 John ix. 8, 9. 2 Mark x 46. 3 Luke xvi. 20-5. 

4 1 Sam. ii. 8 ; 1 Kings xvi. 2 ; Job x. 9, xvi. 15, xlii. 6 ; Ps. vii. 5, 
cxiii. 7 ; Isa. xxvi. 19, xlvii. 1, Hi. 2. 




FOUNTAIN IN JERUSALEM, NEAR THE s TEMPLE AREA 



156 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



They will hold up to you in supplication the stumps of 
their handless arms, unearthly sounds gurgling through 
mouths from which the palates have rotted away, rattling 
their tin mugs placed to receive your alms. They are 
separated from all their fellow men, as they were 
formerly by the law of Moses. ' No healthy person 
will touch them, eat with them, or use any of their 
clothes or utensils with reason.' As one gazes on 
their awful ulcerous sores, they speak with eloquence 
of the faith of one who, though in such a case, could 
say, ' Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean,' 
and the strong sovereign might of Him who with a 
touch could give perfect and instantaneous deliverance 
from so foul and fatal a disease. 1 

In the corn-market at Jerusalem may be witnessed 
the deeply interesting practice of measuring out the 
wheat and barley, when a purchase takes place. Mr. 
James Neil says : ' Each year in July or August all 
the dwellers in Eastern cities have to buy sufficient 
corn to last them for a twelvemonth. Either at the 
market or when it is brought to the purchaser's door, 
a professional measurer invariably attends to find out 
and certify the true contents of each sack, and acts 
as a kind of impartial umpire between the buyer and 
the seller. He uses a wooden measure, like our own 
bushel measure but not so deep, called a timneh. He 
1 Matt. viii. 2-3; Mark i. 40-1 j Luke v. 12-13. 



JERUSALEM TO BEER^SHEBA 157 

seats himself cross-legged on the ground, and upon 
the grain being turned out in a heap before him, 
begins to scoop it into the timne h with his hands. 
Next, he seizes the measure, when it is partly full, 
and gives it two or three swift half-turns as it stands 
on the ground, thus shaking it together and so making 
it occupy a smaller space. He again scoops in more 
corn and repeats the shaking as before, and does so 
again and again until the measure is filled up to the 
brim. This done, he presses upon it all over with 
the outstretched palms of his hands, using the whole 
weight of his body, so as to pack it still more closely. 
Then, out of the centre of the pressed surface, he 
removes some of its contents, and makes a small 
hollow. He is about to erect a building on the top, 
and very naturally digs a foundation. With more 
handfuls of corn he now raises a cone above the 
timneh. With much skilfulness he carries this cone up 
to a great height, until no more grain can possibly be 
piled on its steep sides, and that which he adds begins 
to run down and flow over. Upon this, the interesting 
and elaborate process is complete, the measure is 
regarded as of full weight, and is handed over to the 
buyer. Corn is always meted out in this way, and is 
qouted in the market at so much per timneh. I have 
been at great pains to find out the exact contents, by 
weight, of the Palestine measure. The experiment I 



158 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



caused to be made was with wheat of the best quality. 
I found that a timneh of such filled up to the brim, 
unshaken and impressed and without the cone, weighs 
just 37 lb., and with the cone just 44 lb. When, 
however, shaken together, pressed down, and flowing 
over in the manner I have described, it holds 48 lb. 
" Give," said our blessed Lord, in graphic and 
vivid allusion to this professional measuring, "and 
it shall be given to you ; good measure, pressed down, 
shaken together, running over, shall they give into your 
bosom, [that is, into the capacious natural breast-pocket 
formed by that part of the loose Eastern kamise, or 
shirt, which is above the girdle] for with what measure 
ye mete it shall be measured to you again." 1 Observe, 
there is no less than 1 1 lb. difference in weight between 
a measure filled to the brim, as we fill it here, and one 
such as I have described filled according to the bountiful 
method of Bible lands, when it is " pressed down, shaken 
together, running over." In this way 30 per cent, is 
added to its value ! This is, indeed, good interest for 
our money, but thus liberally shall those be rewarded 
who have learned to imitate the example of their God 
and Saviour — who, blessed be His name, gave His 
own life — in the divine art of generous giving.' 2 

1 Luke vi. 38 ; see also Matt. vii. 2, and Mark iv. 24. 

2 Strange Scenes, by James Neil, M.A., 120th thousand, pp. 33-5 
(Messrs. Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.). 



JERUSALEM TO BEER^SHEBA 



i59 



In Bible times water was brought to Jerusalem by 
aqueducts, and very fine ones too, the ruined remains 
of which are still to be seen. One of these brought 
water from what are called Solomon's Pools, in the 
Wady Urtas, beyond Bethlehem. Pontius Pilate is said 
to have used the Temple treasury to make an aqueduct 
some 30 miles long. But now Jerusalem is solely 
dependent, as indeed it must always have been to a large 
extent, on underground cisterns and a few pools. There 
are enormous cisterns under the Haram area, capable 
of holding 10, 000, coo gallons of water, enough for the 
whole city, but only Mohammedans are allowed to use 
it. Almost every house has its beer, or huge under- 
ground cistern, the beair of the Old Testament, in which 
surface rain-water, collected from the flat roofs and 
terraces, is stored during winter for the year's supply, 
and very good, wholesome water too, when carefully 
kept clean, as it generally is. 

The so-called Pool of Hezekiah is the most impor- 
tant pool in the city, being supplied by an aqueduct 
from the Birket Mamilla, the large pool at the upper 
end of the valley of Hinnom, supposed by many to be 
'the upper watercourse of Gihon.' 'Gihon' seems to 
be ' the Great Gay,' the only 1 gay' near Jerusalem, the 
Gay Hinnom, or Gehenna. If so, this would seem 
indeed to be Hezekiah's pool, for we are told ' he 
stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought 



1 6c RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



it straight down to the west side of the city of David,' 1 
which in this case would be Mount Zion, where this 
pool now stands. It is closely surrounded by buildings, 
and is 240 feet long by 144 feet wide. 

The Pool of Siloam, where our Lord sent the man 
who had been born blind to wash his eyes, after He 
had anointed them with clay and spittle, is thought 
to be one of two which stand at the foot of Mount 
Ophel, at the junction of the Tyropeon, or Cheese- 
monger's Valley, and the Kidron. There is an immense 
ruined pool at the north of the Haram area, which 
has been supposed to be the Pool of Bethesda, ' the 
House of Mercy,' but there are no grounds for the 
conclusion. It is near the Stephen Gate, just within 
the wall of the city. We are told of Bethesda that 
it was by the sheep-gate [or market], and that it had 
five porches. 2 Another pool claiming to be Bethesda 
is shown in the grounds of the church of St. Anne, also 
close to the Stephen Gate. 

Bethany is a half-hour's walk round the southern 
shoulder of Olivet, just about two miles from Jerusalem ; 
which agrees with the statement, ' Now Bethany was 
nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off.' 8 It is 
one of the most interesting villages on earth. It is a 
small village to-day, and never seems to have been 

1 2 Chron. xxxii. 30. 2 John v. 2 

3 John xi. 18. 



1 62 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



much larger, surrounded with many fine trees, especially 
almonds and olives. Here, in the house of Mary and 
Martha and their brother Lazarus, the Lord Jesus 
appears to have found a happy and congenial resting- 
place on those occasions when He came up to 
Jerusalem; and we are specially told that -He loved 
this family. 1 It was only a peasant hut, like these 
huts one sees to-day ; but then the God-man, the man 
Christ Jesus, on earth was Himself, from first to last, 
only a Fellahh, or peasant. Born in the village of 
Bethlehem, at two years of age He was taken to Nazareth, 
and lived there as boy and man for twenty-eight years, 
till He entered on His prophetic ministry, when He 
was thirty. Then, driven out of Nazareth, He chose 
a new home, again a village, Capernaum. As far as 
we can learn from the Gospels, the Saviour never slept 
a night in a town. All that earth ever saw in Him 
was the life of a humble peasant. How few seem to 
realize this ! How deep and wonderful a lesson of 
humility and self-abasement this life of the Son of God 
on earth teaches His people! 

It was here at Bethany that Jesus Christ worked 
His greatest miracle, the raising of Lazarus from the 
dead after he had been four days in the grave, by which 
time, in these hot lands, decomposition is far advanced, 
as Martha told the Lord 2 ; and it was here, to 
1 John xi. 5, 35. 2 John xi. 39. 



JERUSALEM TO BEER^SHEBA 163 



the sorrowing, almost despairing, sister, that Jesus 
proclaimed those wondrous words : ' I am the Resur- 
rection, and the Life : he that believeth in Me, though 
he die, yet shall he live : and whosoever liveth and 
believeth in Me shall never die.' 1 

From Jerusalem it is a pleasant excursion to Beth- 
lehem, about six miles to the south-west. Rising out 
of the valley of the Son of Hinnom, near its head, 
we enter the plain of Rephaim. The people of this 
name, called also Zamzumim and Anakim before the 
days of Joshua, seem to have dwelt here. 2 There twice, 
after seeking special guidance from God, David smote 
the Philistines. 3 The plain is now called El Bukaa, 
the ' cleft valley,' the bifcah of the Hebrew Bible, 
which always refers to a valley of this shape, 4 a long 
valley between parallel ranges of hills. 

About an hour and a quarter's ride brings us to 
Rachel's Tomb, and here Christian, Jewish, and 
Mohammedan tradition agree in identifying this spot. 
Somewhere close here it must have been. We are 
told that the loved wife of Jacob died in giving birth 
to Benjamin, at a place ' a little way to come to Ephrath, 
which is Bethlehem,' and there was buried, and her 

1 John xi. 25-6. 2 Gen. xiv. 5, xv. 20. 3 2 Sam. v. 17-25. 

4 The Jordan Valley is called a bib? ah (Deut. xxxiv. 3), also valleys 
at Mizpeh (Joshua xi. 8), Lebanon (Joshua xi. 17 and xii. 7), Megiddo 
(2 Chron. xxxv. 22 and Zech. xii. 11), Ono (Neh. vi. 2), and Aven 
(Amos i. 5). 



i6 4 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



husband 4 set a pillar upon her grave.' 1 'This is the 
narrative, but it is more than mere history, for the 
event occurred and the record was made to symbolize 
a greater sorrow that was to occur at Ephrath nearly 
two thousand years after, in connexion with the birth 
at Bethlehem of that " Man of Sorrows " in whom 
every important event in Hebrew history received its 
final and complete significance.' Herod, the Edomite 
usurper, in his cruel rage and fear at the birth of 
Israel's legitimate, long-foretold, and glorious King, 
making a vain endeavour to destroy Him, 'slew all 
the children that were in Bethlehem, and on all the 
borders thereof, from two years old and under.' ' Then 
was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the 
prophet, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, 
and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for 
her children, and would not be comforted, because 
they are not.' 2 It would seem, from Matthews 
claiming the fulfilment of this prophecy, that Bethlehem 
must have been known also as Rama, or Ramah, in 
his day, as also in that of Jeremiah. Ram, in Hebrew, 
means ' high,' and in one form or another — Ram, 
Ramah, Ramallah, &c. — occurs all over Palestine 
applied to places seated on hills. 

Not long after passing Rachel's Tomb we arrive 
at Bethlehem, finely seated on high ground, a large and 

1 Gen. xxxv. 16-20. 2 Matt. ii. 16-18; Jer. xxxi. 15. 



JERUSALEM TO BEER-SHEBA 165 



important village, its most conspicuous building being the 
Church of the Nativity. Why the place of our Lord's 
birth should be shown in a cave in this so-called church 
of the Nativity it is difficult to imagine, when we are 
expressly told of the Magi that ' when they came into the 
house, they saw the young child with Mary His mother, 
and fell down and worshipped Him.' 1 Superstition is 
very fond of dirty caves, as may be well seen here 
in Palestine. 

The village house of Bible lands consists of one 
room, about eighteen feet square and some seven feet 
high. In the plains, as we have said, it is mostly built 
of sundried clay brick, but here, in these rocky mountains, 
of the stone which is everywhere to be had on the 
surface. The roof is composed of rafters of wood, 
often of palm, oak, or terebinth, with cross-pieces 
over these, and above boughs of trees. Over this again 
earth and stones are placed a foot deep, and on the 
top clay mud rolled, which bakes to a pottery-like 
hardness in the sun. The door into these houses is 
often only three feet six inches high by two feet wide, 
made thus small for safety ; and the one window is 
often little more than a slit in the thick wall. When 
anything large has to be brought into the house, they 
will ' dig through ' the hardened clay-mud surface of the 
roof, and the earth and stone below it, and remove some 

1 Matt. ii. 11. 



1 66 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



of the boughs and cross-pieces, and thus letdown through 
this aperture what could not be brought in through the 
tiny door. This would seem to be what took place 
in the house at Capernaum, when the paralytic man 
w T as lowered to the feet of Christ. 1 The commentators 
have exercised much ingenuity on this incident, but 
seem to have quite overlooked how easily the sick man 
could have been put on to a roof only some seven to 
eight feet high, and also the boldness and earnestness 
in this rough, unceremonious way of bringing him to 
the feet of Christ, for which the gracious Master had 
nothing but praise. 

The house within consists of two apartments only. 
The one to which the door gives entrance, about a third 
of the whole, is the stable, where in winter the ox, ass, 
or horse, if the owner is rich enough to possess them, 
are brought in. From this stable part, some three 
rude steps lead up to a raised dais about a foot to 
a foot and a half above the level of the stable floor, 
and this, which is all the rest of the house, is where 
the family live. The hut, for it is nothing more, 
has no chimney. On either side of the steps that lead 
up to the raised dais are mangers, either hollowed 
out of stone or rudely built up of wood. It was no 
doubt in one of these ( mangers ' in the house where 
the Magi found Him that the infant Saviour was 

1 Mark ii. 4. 



JERUSALEM TO BEER^SHEBA 167 



laid, having apparently been born in the stable, the 
raised dais set apart for human habitation being full. 
What a sign to be given to the shepherds by which to 
know ' the Great King,' whose glorious birth a host 
of angels had proclaimed to them that still, warm 




THE POOL AT HEBRON, WITH THE LONG MOSQUE WITH ITS TWO MINARETS, OR 
TOWERS. SEEN IN THE DISTANCE ON THE LEFT 



September night, about the 25th of the month, when 
they were watching their flocks in the open, which 
they would never do on the 25th of December ! — what 
a sign, we say, ' Ye shall find the babe wrapped in 
swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger'! Oh for a faith 
like that of these humble men, that could pierce through 



1 68 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



this deep disguise, and discern ' the King of Glory.' 
To this day all infants are swaddled in Palestine. As 
soon as they are born they are washed in water and 
have salt gently rubbed into them, and then, having their 
arms laid by their side and their legs placed together, 
are wound all round with cotton or linen bandages, 
some four to five inches wide and five to six yards 
long, until they look like little mummies. A band is 
even passed under the chin and round the forehead. 
In allusion to these customs, Ezekiel, comparing Israel 
in their absence of spiritual nurture to a neglected 
child, cries, ' In the day thou wast born . . . thou 
wast not washed in water for cleansing ; thou wast 
not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.' 1 Surely a 
' swaddled ' babe, and that laid in the rude manger of 
a village one-roomed house, was, to the eye of flesh, 
the last degree of human weakness and humiliation. 
Well has Mr. Neil called it ' a wondrous sight for 
angels, a wondrous sight for all, this of heaven's mighty 
Lord lying as a poor peasant babe in the stable, 
amongst the cattle, speechless, unconscious, swaddled.' 

The Bethlehem people are an especially strong, 
sturdy, warlike race, and they assert, as all Palestine 
natives do, that hardy, fearless natures are produced by 

1 Ezek. xvi. 4. See also the wonderfully bold and beautiful 
metaphor by which the mighty ocean is represented in the sight of 
God as small and insignificant as a swaddled child (Job xxxviii. 8). 



JERUSALEM TO BEER^SHEBA 169 



the purity of the water where they dwell. Dr. Thom- 
son points out that David and his family, his mightiest 
captains (Joab and others), came from Bethlehem, and 
they were warlike, fierce, and terrible men. ' Had 
the water,' he asks, 'which David so longed for 1 any 
influence in compacting such bones and sinews, and 
hardening such spirits?' He goes on, however, to 
point out that their calling as shepherds, placed on 
this summit-level of the hill country of Judah, with the 
Philistine country on the west and the great wilderness 
of Judea, some fifty miles long by ten miles broad, 
on the east and south-east, would have inured them 
to brave every kind of danger. How true this last 
explanation is may be well gathered from Mr. James 
Neil's description of the life and work of a pastor 
in Palestine, from which it will be seen that an 
Oriental shepherd is called upon to be one of the 
hardiest, strongest, and bravest of living men. 2 

How lifelike is the story of Ruth as read in the 
light of modern Bethlehem life, so graphically described 
by Dr. Thomson in The Land and the Book, pp. 646-50! 

From Bethlehem, going south, through Wady Urtas 
and past the immense pools known as Solomon's Pools, 
the road leads to Hebron, some twelve miles further, 

1 2 Sam. xxiii. 15-16. 

2 Palestine Explored, by James Neil, M.A., chap, xi., 'The 
Shepherd's Club and Staff,' pp. 255-78 (Messrs. J. Nisbet & Co.). 



i ;o RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



and, during the last part of the way, passes through 
some of the finest and most extensive vineyards now 
to be found in the Holy Land, probably the vineyards 
of Eshcol, from which the spies would not have had 
far to carry the splendid bunch or fruit-bearing bough 
they brought on a pole back with them to Kadesh 
Barnea. 1 A fine spring in this valley is called A in 
EsJikali, ( the Spring of Eshcol.' Great quantities of 
these grapes are dried as raisins, and a large part is 
inspissated, or boiled down, to a third of its bulk, into 
a grape-honey, or molasses, the principal sugar now. 
as it must have been anciently, of most Bible lands. 
The Arabs call it dibs s and this is virtually the same 
as the Hebrew devash, or debash, translated in every 
instance 'honey' in our version, but which stands in 
most places for this grape-hone}*. 1 Honey out of the 
stony rock ' 2 alludes to the vines needing to get their 
roots to limestone, if they are to do well. ' A land 
flowing with milk and honev ' means a land of fine 
pastures and good harvests and oil products, for these, 
by feeding cattle and flocks, give good milk, and ol 
fertile vineyards, which yield devash, 'grape-honey.' 3 
Hebron is now called El Khali 7. 1 the Friend,' 

1 Num. xiii. 23-4, xxxii. 9; Deut. i. 24-5. 
- Deut. xxxii. 13 ; see Ps. lxxxi. 16. 

3 Exod. iii. 8, xiii. 5, xxxiii. 3 : Lev. xx. 24; Num. xiii. 27, xiv. 8, 
xvi. 13 ; Deut. vi. 3 ; Jer. xi. 5, xxxii. 22 ; Ezek. xx. 6, 15. 



i72 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



after Abraham, whose glorious title is ' the Friend of 
God.' 1 Hebron is a fanatical Mohammedan town, 
which just tolerates about a thousand Jews, but allows 
no Christians to reside there. Here, next to the 
Temple area at Jerusalem, is the most interesting 
building in Palestine, the Haram, or Mohammedan 
Mosque, standing high in a conspicuous position. 
This, there can be little doubt, is built above the 
cave of Macpelah, and below it some day will be found 
the embalmed bodies of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 
and of their respective wives, Sarah, Rebekah, and 
Leah. The lower part of this mosque, which is 198 feet 
north and south and 1 1 2 feet east and west, resembles 
the Temple enclosure at Jerusalem, which has un- 
doubtedly come down from Bible days, not later than 
the time of Christ, but probably hundreds of years older. 
All the stones have what is known as the Jewish 
draft — broad, shallow, and beautifully cut, as at the 
Temple area, and one stone is 38 feet long and 3^ feet 
high. The town of Hebron now stands round it, but 
there is little doubt the town formerly stood on the hill 
north-west of its present site, in the direction of the 
fine oak now called Abraham's Oak, though it can 
scarcely be three hundred years old ! Here at this oak 
the original Hebron, Mamre, or Kirjath Arba (for it 
bore all three names) of Abraham's time stood. The 

1 2 Chron. xx. 7. 



JERUSALEM TO BEER-SHEBA 173 

hills close to Hebron reach the fine height of 3*300 feet, 
and from their summit a magnificent view is obtained 
across the whole of western Palestine from the Medi- 
terranean Sea to the mountains of Moab. 

South of Hebron the country descends ' by a sudden 
step, and forms a kind of plateau divided into two by 
the oreat valley which runs from north of Hebron to 
Beersheba, and thence west to Gerar and the sea. The 
plateau is about 2,600 feet above sea-level, and 500 feet 
below the o-eneral level of the Hebron watershed. It 
consists of open wolds and arable lands, the soil being 
a white, soft chalk. . . . There are no springs in this 
region, but the water, when not contained in tanks and 
cisterns, sinks through the porous rocks. On the south 
another step down leads to the white marl desert of 
Beer-sheba.' This part of the land is called in the Bible 
the ' Negeb,' rendered in our version 1 the south,' or 
1 the south country.' 1 When we read that ' Abram 
went up out of Egypt . . . into the south,' 2 strange 
as it sounds, it is right ; for, though he went up north 
out of Egypt, he came into the ' Negeb,' here rendered 
' south.' Stranger still is it to read that Moses, sending 
out the spies from the desert of Paran straight to the 

1 Gen. xii. 9, xiii. 3, xx. 1, xxiv. 62 ; Num. xiii. 22, 29, xxi. 1 ; 
Joshua x. 40, xi. 16, xii. 8 ; Judges i. 9, &c. In all these places and 
others it is the technical name ' Negeb ' for this plateau of rounded, 
soft chalk hills between Hebron and Beer-sheba. 

2 Gen. xiii. 1. 



i74 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



north, to enter Palestine, commands them, ' Get you up 
this way into the south, and go up to the highland.' 1 
But what he said, though sounding absurdly wrong 
translated in this way, was minutely accurate, namely, 
' Get you up this way into the " Negeb," and go to the 
highland '■ — that is, ' Pass into the soft chalk downs just 
to the north, and then mount to the Hebron district, the 
mountain or highland (kar) of Judah.' In the northern 
part of this Negeb we have the country in which David 
was hunted by Saul like the red-legged partridge which 
abounds in the district. Debir, which Caleb £ave his 
daughter, is here at the modern Dhaheriyeh. 2 Here, in 
this northern part of the Negeb, is the scene of David's 
wanderings when he fled from Saul. The cave of 
Adullam is at the mouth of the rich corn-valley of 
Elah. 3 Keilah is about ten miles south of Hebron 4 ; 
the forest of Hareth, at H haras, close by. 5 Farther 
south is the Ziph (now Tell Zif), where David sought 
shelter when driven from these northern lairs, 6 and more 
to the east, in the wilderness of Judah, the Yesheenioan? 

1 Num. xiii. 17. 2 Judges i. 11, 12. 

3 1 Sam. xxii. 1 ; 2 Sam. xxiii. 13 ; 1 Chron. xi. 15. As to the city 
of Adullam, near which the cave was, see Joshua xii. 7-15, xv. 33-5 ; 
2 Chron. xi. 5-7. 

4 Joshua xv. 44; 1 Sam. xxiii. 1-13. 

5 1 Sam. xxii. 5. 

6 Joshua xv. 24; t Sam. xxiii. 14, 15, 24, xxvi. 2. 

7 Num. xxi. 20, xxiii. 28 ; 1 Sam. xxiii. 19, 24, xxvi. 1, 3. 




'Abraham's oak,' near hebron 



i/6 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



or ' Solicitude,' as it is called, David's stronghold at the 
hill of Hackilah, the El Kolah of our day, 1 and also the 
Sela Ham-mahlekolh, 'the Cliff of Divisions,' where the 
hunted fugitive had so narrow an escape. 2 Here, too, 
are the wilderness of Maon 3 and Carmel, 4 that come into 
this eventful and exciting period of David's life. How 
they may all be identified is shown in that charming 
and able book Colonel C. R. Conder's Tent Woi'k in 
Palestine, pp. 86-93. 

Beer-sheba (now Tell Es Seb'a) is situated to the 
south, where the mountains of Judah end, on a mound 
2\ miles east of the wells of Beer-sheba, rising out of * a 
broad, undulating plain, grey and dry, like the muddy 
basin of a former sea.' In the springtime it is a fine 
pasture-land, covered with wild flowers and coarse grasses. 
To the south of it stretches the interminable desert of 
the Wanderings. One of the wells is 12 feet 3 inches in 
diameter, a second 9 feet in diameter, and a third 5 feet. 
They have the usual Eastern ring of stone at their 
mouths, ' worn into a hundred furrowed channels by the 
ropes of some seven centuries of water-drawers, for they 
appear to have been built in their present fashion in the 
twelfth century.' 

Beer-sheba was the southern limit of the land of 
Palestine, as we see by the frequent descriptions of all 

1 1 Sam. xxiii. 19, xxvi. 3. 3 1 Sam. xxiii. 24-6, xxv. 2. 

2 1 Sam xxiii. 2-8. 1 1 Sam. xxv. 2-8. 



JERUSALEM TO BEER-SHEBA 177 



the country as extending 'from Dan to Beer-sheba.' 1 
Here Hagar, banished at Isaac's weaning feast, wan- 
dered with her boy Ishmael 2 ; and here Abraham 
entered into a covenant by oath with Abimelech, the 
Philistine king, whence it took its name Beer-sheba, 
' Well of Oath.' 3 

1 Judges xx. i ; i Sam. iii. 20; 2 Sam. iii. 10, xvii. it, &c. 

2 Gen. xxi. 14, 21. 

3 Gen. xxi. 22-32 ; see also Gen. xxvi. 23-33. 




CARAVAN FORDING THE RIVER AIYEH 



12 



CHAPTER VII 



BETHEL, MICHMASH, JORDAN VALLEY, 
EAST OF JORDAN 

Very interesting excursions from Jerusalem are to 
be made to those scriptural spots to the north of the city 
which, like Jerusalem itself, are within the boundaries 
of the tribe of Benjamin. That the Holy City was 
in Benjamin, and not in Judah, as most people suppose, 
has now been demonstrated by the work of the survey 
of Western Palestine. This explains that difficult verse, 
where Ahijah, the prophet, announced to Jeroboam 
that he should reign over the tribes of Israel, but that 
one of the eleven, Benjamin, should be left to follow 
the house of David, and form, in conjunction with 
Judah, a southern kingdom. 1 To his son [Solomon's] 
will I give one tribe [Benjamin], that David My servant 
may have a light always before Me in Jerusalem.' 1 A 
' light ' here is the figure of metonymy. By this 
figure, wherever there is an intimate and settled relation- 



1 i Kings xi. 36. 
178 



i8o RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



ship between two nouns, one of them may be put for 
the other. In the East the very poorest people have 
a lamp burning all night. They are, and always have 
been, superstitious, and one reason for this light by 
night is their belief that it will scare away evil spirits. 
Besides, night is dangerous, and the brightness of the 
Oriental sunshine gives them a horror of darkness and 
a great passion for light. To them truly ' the light is 
sweet ' — so sweet that they cannot live without it. 1 Hence 
there is an intimate and settled relation in Palestine 
between a house and the light always kept in it by 
night. The words therefore mean that to Rehoboam, 
the King of Judah, God would ' give one tribe [Ben- 
jamin],' that, as the Lord says, ' David My servant [David 
being put here, by metonymy, for his regal descendants] 
may have a house [or family seat ; in his case, a regal 
house or palace] always before Me in Jerusalem.' If 
Benjamin in the general defection had joined the ten- 
tribed kingdom of Israel, Jerusalem, being in Benjamin, 
would have been lost to the royal line. A thousand 
difficulties like this cease to be difficulties at all when 
we understand the highly figurative language used 
everywhere in the Orient. 

Bethel is found at the modern Beitin (apparently 
a corruption of Bethaven), nine miles north of Jerusalem, 
for the prophet Hosea seems to speak of it under 

1 Eccles. xi. 7. 



BETHEL 



181 



this name, seeing the once 'House of God' {Beth el) 
would become the ' House of Folly ' {Beth aven)} Beth- 
aven seems to have been the name of the wilderness 
to the east of Bethel. 2 Bethel is, as Colonel Conder well 
says, ' one of the most desolate-looking places in 
Palestine ; not from lack of water, for it has four good 
springs, but from the absence of soft soil on its rocky 
hills. All the neighbourhood is of grey, bare stone or 
white chalk. The miserable fields are fenced in 
with stone walls, the hill to the east is of hard rock. . . . 
The place seems as if turned to stone, and we can 
well imagine that the lonely patriarch found nothing- 
softer than a stone for the pillow under his head, when 
on the bare hillside he slept,' and had a vision of 
angels. 3 Colonel Conder gives many good reasons for 
supposing that the Bethel where the calves were set 
up by Jeroboam was another Bethel, on a hill west 
of Gerizim, and that Dan, the other centre of calf- 
worship, was not the northern Dan, but a place on the 
hill west of Ebal. 4 

Ai would seem to have been at ruins called Haiyan, 
a short distance east of Bethel, a name very like Aina, 
the name Josephus gives to Ai. 5 The surrounding 

1 Hos. iv. 15, v. 8, x. 15. 

2 Joshua vii. 2, xviii. 12 ; 1 Sam. xiii. 5, xiv. 23. 

3 Gen. xxviii. 10-22. 

4 1 Kings xii. 29-33, xiii. 1-32, &c. 

5 Joshua vii.-viii. 24, 25-29, ix. 3, x. 1, 2, xii. 9. 



i8.2 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



valleys answer exactly to the account of the taking 
of this strong fortified city by Joshua. 

The great valley, at the head of which, west of 
Haiyan, or Ai, Joshua placed his ambush, curves round 
eastward and runs to Jericho. Two miles south-east 
of Ai ' it becomes a narrow gorge with vertical precipices 
some 800 feet high — a great crack or fissure in the 
country ' which you only become aware of when close 
to the brink. On the south side of this great chasm, 
at Jeb'a, stands ' Geba of Benjamin,' 1 probably the 
same as ' Gibeah of Saul,' ~ though Gibeah may have 
been the name of the district. 3 On the other side of 
the chasm, called by the Arabs Wady Suweinit, ' the 
Valley of the little Thorn Tree,' the sene/i, or acacia, 
stands the village of Mukmas, undoubtedly the Mich- 
mash of the wondrous feat of Jonathan and his armour- 
bearer. Josephus describes the spot exactly. He says, 
' The enemy's camp was upon a precipice which had 
three, tops, that ended in a small but sharp and long- 
extremity, while there was a rock that surrounded them.' 4 
Colonel Conder says, ' Exactly such a natural fortress 
exists immediately east of the village of Michmash, 
and it is still called "the fort" by the peasantry.' 

1 Joshua xxi. 17 ; 2 Sam. v. 25 ; 1 Kings xv. 22, &c. 

2 1 Sam. x. 26, xi. 4, &c. 

3 1 Sam. xxii. 6. Here Ramah is said to have been 'in Gibeah.' 

4 Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews, Bk. VI. chap. vi. sec. 2. 



MICHMASH 



183 



Opposite to this natural fortress there is on the south 
of the gorge ' a crag of equal height and seemingly 
impassable.' Scripture exactly describes the spot, 
' A sharp cliff on one side, and a sharp cliff on the 
other.' 1 The south cliff, we are told, was named Seneh, 
and the opposite north cliff was called Bozez. The 




PLAIN OF JERICHO, NEAR AIN ES SULTAN 



valley runs due east, so the south cliff is in shade all 
day, and, like all southern slopes in Palestine, green 
and fertile. So much is this the case that Palestine 
looks green and fertile as you travel from north to 
south, and comparatively; barren as you travel from 

1 1 Sam. xiv. 4. 



i8 4 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



south to north. Hence this cliff would be covered 
with wild growth, probably the acacia, and was there- 
fore called Seneh. The cliff under Michmash on the 
east is bare and rocky, much of it white chalk, and 
reflects back the scorching rays of the sun, truly Bozez — 
that is, 1 shining.' Here, then, we can with certainty 
locate that splendid feat of arms, when, with reckless 
heroism, Jonathan and his armour-bearer surprised and 
put to flight the whole garrison of the Philistines. 1 

Ramah, Nob, and Mizpeh were all somewhere in 
this neighbourhood, more to the south, but are not 
yet certainly identified. A high and remarkable conical 
hill, some two miles north-west of Jerusalem, called 
Neby Samwil, ' the Prophet Samuel,' has. by some 
been thought to be Mizpeh. Anathoth, to the east, 
is the modern 'Anata. El Jeeb, about a mile to the 
north of Neby Samwil, separated from it by a deep 
valley, is in all probability the Gibeon of the Bible. 
It is in the usual situation of Palestine towns and 
villages, ' on an isolated and rocky hill of moderate 
elevation, with plains, valleys, and higher mountains 
all around it.' Ancient remains betoken a once im- 
portant place, and Gibeon was ' a great city, as one 
of the royal cities, greater than Ai, and all the men 
thereof were mighty.' 2 When their submission to 
Joshua 3 brought against them the five Kings of the 
1 i Sam. xiv. 1-23. 2 Joshua x. 2. 3 Joshua ix. 



JORDAN VALLEY 185 



Amorites, the Kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, 
Lachish, and Eglon, in the open plain east of El Jeeb, 
the battle must have been fought in which Joshua, 
hastening all night from Gilgal to the rescue of the 
Gibeonites, fell upon them unexpectedly at dawn, 
and drove their routed hosts down the valley of Ajalon, 
the Wady Yal'o. Here it was that ' Joshua spake 
to Jehovah ' in prayer, and then said in the sight 
of Israel, in what is a verse of Hebrew poetry, 

Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, 

And thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon ! 

And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, 

Until the nation avenged themselves upon their enemies. 1 

' Sun ' and ' moon ' here are evidently the figure 
of metonymy for ' sunlight ' and ' moonlight.' A 
hundred complicated miracles, and not one, would have 
been necessary to effect the actual standing still of the 
sun and moon. Indeed, had the sun stood still, it 
would not have affected the length of the day, which 
depends not on the revolution of the sun, but on that 
of the earth ! All that is here stated is that the 
' light ' of the sun and moon was supernaturally pro- 
longed by the same laws of refraction and reflection that 
ordinarily cause the sun to appear above the horizon 
when it is in reality below it ! This was indeed a 



Joshua x. 12. 



1 86 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



miracle, happening- at the moment it was called for, and 
prolonging the light of the sun and moon, and indeed 
the appearance of these orbs, above the horizon, so as to 
give light long after they had really set, and thus lengthen- 
ing the day as it had never been lengthened before. 1 

From Jerusalem to Jericho the road winds down 
through the north end of the vast wilderness of Judah, 
and is, and must always have been, on that account 
a dangerous way. For these deserts are inhabited by 
fierce tribes of Bedaween, who exact toll from all who 
pass through their tribal districts ; and also by bands 
of brigands, the escaped outlaws and criminals who 
dwell in caves, and, though far fewer in number than 
the former, unlike them, have no laws of honour. 
David's band in the cave of Adullam were such brigands, 
though under David's leadership they became brave, 
self-controlled, magnanimous men like their captain.- 

The parable of the Good Samaritan becomes very 
real to those who know this road. 3 It is indeed for 
all the fifteen miles a going ' down to Jericho ' — a steep 
descent of almost 4,000 feet. The Convent of Mar 

1 There are two terms for the sun and moon in the Hebrew 
scriptures. The terms used, with only a few exceptions, for the bodies 
of the sun and moon, and constantly associated, are hhamah and levanah. 
The terms used of the light emanating from them, also constantly 
associated, are shemesh and yareahh, and these last two are the words 
used in this passage, Joshua x. 12. 

2 1 Sam. xxii. 1, 2. 3 Luke x. 30-7. 



JORDAN VALLEY 



187 



Saba, in a most desolate part of the Wady En Nar, 
' the Valley of Fire,' some seven miles south of the 
road to Jericho, built into lofty crags on the precipitous 
side of a rocky ravine, a Greek Church monastery into 
which no woman is ever allowed to enter, is perhaps 
the weirdest and wildest spot that monkish fanaticism 
ever dedicated to the purposes of a useless and wasted 
life. Lower down the gorge of the Wady Kelt, we pass, 
till we come out on to the ' plain of Jordan.' The 
word here for plain is kikkar, or ' circle,' the ' round 
plain,' for the long Jordan valley here widens at the 
head of the Dead Sea into a somewhat circular form, 
fourteen miles from east to west and eight miles from 
north to south. 1 This valley of the Kelt that we have 
descended has a stream running to the Jordan. It 
cannot possibly be the brook Kerith, whither Elijah fled, 
which was east of Jordan ; but Colonel Conder identifies 
it with the valley of Achor, wmere Achan was stoned. - 

Jericho, now r the village of Eriha, out on the 
plain, stood formerly at 'Ain es Sultan, ' the Sultan's 
Spring,' at the foot of the mountains we have just 
descended. This kikkar of Jordan is some 1,300 feet 
(actually 1,292 feet) under the level of the sea, probably 
the deepest inhabited region on earth. The weight 
of 1,300 feet of air on one's head more than one has 

1 Gen. xiii. 10-12, xix. 17, 25, 28-9 ; Deut. xxxiv. 3. 

2 Joshua vii. 24-6. 



1 88 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



ever felt before has something of the effect of going 
down in a diving-bell, and makes sleep difficult at 
first. The country all around 'Ain es Sultan, and for 
some ten miles to the north on this side of the valley, 
is a network of the ruined remains of ancient aqueducts, 
which must have made this hot region a paradise of 
fruitfulness and beauty, where now there is nothing but 
wild growth. Here were the splendid palm and balsam 
groves that Antony gave to Cleopatra. Josephus 
refers to it several times in enthusiastic terms. Speaking 
of Jericho, he says, ' Now here is the most fruitful country 
about Judea, which bears a vast number of palm-trees, 
besides the balsam-tree, whose sprouts they cut with 
sharp stones, and at the incisions they gather the juice, 
which drops down like tears.' 1 He says it was 'an 
ointment of all the most precious.' 2 He speaks of it as 
' the most precious drug,' and says it ' grows there 
alone,' and says that Herod the Great farmed of Cleopatra 
the revenues it brought in. 3 

The Dead Sea is here at the north end surrounded 
by a salt desert, strewn with driftwood — and nothing 
could look more lifeless and desolate — but in other parts 
of its shore it is green and fertile. One-fourth of this 
great recipient lake, that takes in all the water of Jordan 

1 Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Bk. I. ch. vi. sec. 6. 

2 Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Bk. XIV. ch. iv. sec. i. 

3 Ibid, Bk. XV. ch. iv. sec. 20. 



i 9 o RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



and yet has no outlet, is salt. So hot is the district 
for a great part of the year, that all the water poured 
in by the Jordan passes away in evaporation. 

A peak of the mountains of Moab, called by the Arabs 
Neba, rising above its eastern shore at the north end, 
some 4,000 feet high, is probably the Nebo at Pisgah, 
whence Moses viewed the goodly land he might not 
enter. 1 It commands a most extensive view. There 
he, ' the man of God,' died, in full vigour, though he 
was one hundred and twenty years old ; and somewhere 
near there is the mysterious grave where the hand of 
God laid Israel's leader and lawgiver to rest. 2 

The five cities of the plain — Sodom, Gomorrah, 
Admah, Zeboim, and Bela, the last afterwards called 
Zoar — have now been identified by Dr. Selah Merril, 
of the American Exploration Fund, with five ancient 
ruins at the foot of the Moab mountains on the 
south-east side of the kikkar, or round plain, of 
Jordan. One thing is certain, they are not beneath 
the Dead Sea, for the geological survey shows 
that the lake was in its present position long 
before the time of Lot. Besides, Abraham and 
his nephew viewed these cities and their rich, 
cultivated lands from 'between Bethel and Ai,' 3 
and standing there to-day all that one can see is 

] Deut. xxxii. 48-52, xxxiv. 1-4. 2 Deut. xxxiv. 5-6. 

3 Gen. xiii. 3, 10. 



JORDAN VALLEY 191 




THE KIKKAR, OR ' ROUND PLAIN ' OF JORDAN (GEN. xiii. 10-12): 
JERICHO IN THE DISTANCE 



that part of the Jordan valley just to the north of 
the lake. 

The Jordan rises as a full-grown river, issuing from 
the caves of Banias at the foot of Mount Hermon, 
about 1,000 feet above the level of the Mediterranean.. 
In the first twelve miles it falls 1,000 feet, and, passing 
through papyrus marshes, reaches Lake Huleh, the 
' waters of Merom ' of Scripture. 1 This lake is four miles 
long, and from its southern end the Jordan flows, and, 
after ten and a half miles, enters the Sea of Galilee, 

1 Joshua xi. 5, 7. 



RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



the Gennesaret of the New Testament, a Greek form 
of its ancient name Chinnereth. 1 This lake is 6S2 feet 
below the Mediterranean, so the Jordan falls 1.6S2 
feet in 26J miles, or at the rate of more than 60 teet 
to the mile. Well may it be called the Jordan, which 
means ' the Descender.' The Sea of Galilee is 12J miles 
long by about 6f miles broad at its widest point, and 
is in the shape of a pear or harp. It is a lovely sheet 
of water, surrounded by mountains, with the fine plain 
of Gennesaret on its north-west shore, a region so 
fertile that Josephus called it 1 the ambition of nature." 

The fine ruins of Capernaum are on the north of 
the lake at Tell Hum, and those of Bethsaida, 6 the 
House of Fishing/ at Ain Tabigah, a warm spring 
where the shoals of fish come to enjoy the fresh water 
of the spring, and are caught from the shore by day. 
as in the time of Christ. The eastern Bethsaida — for 
we learn from the Gospels that there were two towns 
of this name — is at El Tell, a ruin some three-quarters 
of a mile from the shore on the east bank of the 
Jordan. Here is the only other spot on the shore of 
the lake where the fish congregate to refresh themselves, 
being attracted by the inrush of the waters of the 
river, and therefore it was the one other Bethsaida. 
or place of fishing, just as it is to-day, where they are 
caught off the shore. The splendid ruins of Korazeh, 
1 Num. xxxiv. 11 ; Joshua xii. 3, xiii. 27. 



JORDAN VALLEY 



i93 



about a mile and a half to the north of Capernaum, 
are doubtless those of Chorazin. whose woe has come, 
with that of the western Bethsaida, for their rejection 
of Christ, notwithstanding the mighty works which He 
did in them (Matt. xi. 21; Luke x. 15). On the 
western side, at the south end of the plain of Gennesaret, 




THE JORDAN LEAVING THE SEA OF GALILEE 



is the village of Mejdel. probably the Magdala of the 
Xew Testament, and further south still the picturesque 
walled town of Tiberias : whilst on the opposite eastern 
shore of the lake are the ruins of Ghersa. which may 
be certainly identihed with the Gergesa where Christ 



i94 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



healed the demoniac. We say certainly, for, as Mr. 
Macgregor discovered in his canoe voyage down the 
Jordan, this is the only spot on the eastern shore where 
the mountains come up to the lake and descend almost 
sheer into it, the one spot where a ' whole herd of swine ' 
could have ' rushed violently down the steep place into 
the sea.' 1 This is one of the very few instances in 
Bible lands where we can exactly locate the spot 
where a miracle took place ! 

From the south end of the Sea of Galilee 1 the 
Jordan flows sixty-five miles — measuring in a straight 
line (but the bends make it a good deal more) — to the 
Dead Sea, 1,292 feet below the Mediterranean. The 
total length of the Jordan, not allowing for bends, is 
104 miles, or about half the length of the Thames. 
The valley through which it Hows is called the Ghor. 
But in the centre of the Ghor there is a second valley, 
or deep trench, with an average breadth of about 
three-quarters of a mile, bounded on each side by 
marl cliffs, called by the Arabs the Zor, or " Throat," 
and it is in the centre of this that the river runs.' 
The Zor is for the most part a desert, but on either 
bank of the river there is a rich sub-tropical jungle, 
the lair of wild beasts ; and this jungle, which is 
peculiar to the Jordan, is called by the prophets its 
' pride,' though it is three times rendered ' swelling ' 
1 Matt. viii. 32 ; Mark v. 13 ; Luke viii. 33. 



196 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



in our version. 1 It should be rendered in each case ' the 
pride of Jordan,' a glorious fringe of wild growth, but 
running through a desert, and the haunt of wild beasts. 

Colonel Conder, in the work of the survey, found no 
less than forty fords of the Jordan, and collected their 
names, but only one was called 'Abarah. This ford 
is just above the spot where the Jalud River, the stream 
that flows down the valley of Jezreel, enters the Jordan. 
Bethabara is mentioned as the place where John was 
baptizing. 2 It was formerly located on the map at the 
Jericho ford. But this raised a great difficulty ; for the 
day after John was standing at Bethabara pointing his dis- 
ciples to Jesus, who was walking by, as ' the Lamb of God,' 
there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, which Jesus and 
His disciples attended. 3 From the Jericho ford this is 
eighty miles! Now this Abarah ford is just twenty.-two 
miles in a straight line from Kefr Kenna, the supposed 
Cana, an easy one-day's journey. Some texts, it is 
true, read Bathania instead of Bethabara; but this 
Bathania was the name used in the time of Christ for 
the old name Bashan, and points to this northern part 
of the river where Bethabara stands. 

East of the Jordan a wide strip of country stretches, 
higher and more fertile, and certainly affording better 

1 Jer. xii. 5, xlix. 19, 1. 44 ; Zech. xi. 3. 

2 John i. 28. 

3 Compare John i. 28-9, 35 ; and John ii. 1-2. 



EAST OF JORDAN 



197 




AN EASTERN SHEPHERD AND SHEEP 



pasture land, than Western Palestine, which was why 
Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, who 
1 had a very great multitude of cattle,' so naturally 
sought their inheritance here. 1 To the extreme north 
of it stands the ancient and magnificent city of Damascus, 
surrounded by thirty miles of apricot groves — truly, as 
they say in Syria, ' a diamond set in emeralds.' Ap- 
proached from Lebanon on the north-west, along the 
valley of the river Barada, the Abana of the Bible (the 
Pharpar rises on the south-west), 2 at a point on a lofty 
cliff, you get a view of the whole city and its exquisitely 

1 Num. xxxii. 1-5. 2 2 Kings v. 12. 



198 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 

verdant surroundings. This was the vast capital of the 
Syrian empire, a green oasis on the edge of the mighty 




A TRIBUTARY OF THE JORDON 



desert that stretches far away for some ten days' journey 
to the river Euphrates. The wonderful ruins of 
Palmyra, i 70 miles to the east of Damascus, are in the 



EAST OF JORDAN 



199 




ROMAN ROAD IN GILEAD 



very heart of that desert. They are now called by 
the Arabs Tudmor, ' the Tadmor in the wilderness,' 
built as a trading-station by Solomon. 1 One of the 
most ancient cities in the world, Damascus is mentioned 
in Abraham's heroic rescue of Lot and the other captives 
about the year 1950 B.C. 2 It is the gift of the Abana 
and Pharpar, just as Egypt is the gift of the Nile. It 
has been called ' the Eye of all the East,' and well 
might Naaman, as a natural man, look with contempt 

1 1 Kings ix. 17, 18 ; 2 Chron. viii= 4. 

2 Gen. xiv. 15. 



2oo RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



upon the tiny stream of the Jordan in comparison with 
the rivers that have made and preserved this mighty city. 
It is not too much to say that its situation is one of the 
finest on the globe. After these two streams have 
passed through and around the city, they become 
swallowed up in the recipient lakes some twenty miles 
to the east. No event in the history of the Church, 
since the Lord ascended to heaven, can compare in 
importance with that which happened at the gate of 
this city about the year a.d. 53. when Saul of Tarsus 
was converted in a moment, and obediently 'heard the 
voice which turned the fortunes of mankind.' 1 

Twelve miles to the south commences one of the 
most interesting sections of Palestine, the Hauran, the 
immense tribal district of the half tribe of Manasseh, 
almost as large as half Western Palestine. It is divided 
into three provinces — the Lejah, 1 the Stony Land,' the 
Xukrah, or 1 Plain,' and the Jebel, or 1 Mountain.' The 
Lejah is roughly a triangle, fifteen miles at its base 
on the south, and twenty miles from the base to the 
apex. It is an immense natural maze of black basalt 
rocks. This is the Ar^ob of the Old' Testament, or 
' heap of stones,' as the word means, the region ruled 
by Og, the King of Bashan, where were 1 sixty great 
cities with walls and brazen gates.'- The greatest of 

o o 

these was Edrei, now the village of Edhr'a, on the 
1 Acts ix. 3-6 : xxii. 6-16. - 1 Kings iv. 13. 



EAST OF JORDAN 201 

border of this district, where the giant Og reigned. 1 
Retiring into the fastnesses of El Lejar (Argob), Og 
and his forces defied Israel, until God sent hornets 
amongst them, and they drove them out into the open. 
Like Sihon, who reigned at Heshbon in Moab, Og the 




NATURAL BRIDGE IN GILEAD 



King of Bashan belonged to the Amorite nation. 2 This 
district, with a narrow strip of the fertile plain extending 
around it, was the province of Trachonitis (which in 
Greek means ' stony'), mentioned in the New Testament. 3 

1 Dent. iii. 4, 10. 2 Joshua xxiv. 12. 

3 Luke iii. 1. 



202 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



The Nukrah, or ' Plain,' is the Hauran proper, the 
Greek Auranitis, and the Old Hebrew Hauran. 1 It is 
the granary of Damascus, and the most fertile region 
in Syria. Here giants dwelt of old : the Rephaim in 
Ashteroth Karnaim, ' the two-horned Ashtereth ' — that is, 
the ' Ashtereth with a crescent moon on her head.' 2 The 
spies sent out by Joshua said of these ' sons of Anak,' 
or ' long-necked men,' ' We were in our own sight as 
grasshoppers' — that is, compared with them 3 ; and 
doubtless the giants Goliath, 4 Saph or Sippai, 5 Lahmi, 6 
and Ishbi-benob, 7 and the six-fingered and six-toed men, 8 
were survivors of this race. Dr. Porters Giant Cities 
of Bashan gives a truly remarkable account of the 
dwelling-places of these men. In the eastern part of the 
Hauran there are fine oak woods, which naturally made 
the oaks of Bashan proverbial 9 ; whilst the splendid cattle 
of the herdsmen of Manasseh rendered the term ' bulls of 
Bashan ' a synonym for strength. 10 Through this plain, 
with many branches, runs the largest of all the tributaries 
of the Jordan, the river Jarmoak. 

The third district of the Hauran, El Jebel, ' the 
Mountain,' now called ' the Druze mountain,' runs from 

1 Ezek. xlvii. 16, 18. 2 Gen. xiv. 5. 
3 Num. xiii. 33. 4 1 Sam. xvii. 4-54. 

5 1 Chron. xx. 4 ; 2 Sam. xxi. 18. 

6 1 Chron. xx. 5. 7 2 Sam. xxi. 16. 8 2 Sam. xxi. 20. 

9 Isa. ii. 13 ; Ezek. xxvii. 6 ; Zech. xi. 2. 

10 Ps. xxii. 12 ; Ezek. xxxix. 18 ; Amos iv. 1. 



EAST OF JORDAN 



203 



north to south between the Nukrah, or Plain, and the 
Desert. The natives still call this region by the ancient 
name Ard el Bathanyeh, the Land of Batanaea, or 
Bashan. These mountains rise to a height of some 
6,000 feet, the highest in all the Holy Land next to 




AN ANCIENT TOMB 



Lebanon. They afford fine scenery, for the Mountain, 
El Jebel, is a healthy and beautiful spot. Here, at 
the southern extremity, are the extensive ruins known 
as Sulkhad, the Salcah of the Bible. 1 

1 Deut. iii. 10; Joshua xii. 5, xiii. 11 ; 1 Chron. v. 11. 



2o 4 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



From the top of the castle, on the summit of the 
hill, which rises about 300 feet above the city, there 
is an extensive and most interesting view of the whole 
plain of Moab, the district lying next the Hauran on 
the south. Bozrah is seen on the west some twelve 
miles distant. From this commanding spot, Dr. Porter 
tells us, no less than thirty deserted Moabite sites can 
be seen. Indeed, right away from here for some 
seventy-five miles to Kir of Moab, now Kerak, 1 the 
southern boundary of that land, there is not an inhabited 
town left. No such utter ruin and desolation of a 
once great and flourishing country exists on earth. 
Jer. xlviii. foretold this. Of no other land is such 
an awful picture of universal ruin drawn by any of the 
prophets, as we have in the case of the Land of 
Moab, and here it is fulfilled under -our eyes. The 
ruins of Bozrah are most extensive. 2 The Arabs call 
it Busrah. The castle here is one of the largest and 
strongest in Syria. In its centre is a great Roman 
theatre, for Bozrah was the Bostra of the times of 
Roman dominion. 

The fine region of Gilead was to the north of Moab, 
with its centre at Ramoth Gilead, the modern Es Salt. 

1 Isa. xv. 1. 

2 Gen. xxxvi. 33; 1 Chron. i. 44; Isa. xxxiv. 6; Jer. xlix. 13, 22 j 
Amos i. 12; Mic. ii. 12. The Bozrah mentioned in Isa. lxiii. t was 
another city far to the south in Edom. 



EAST OF JORDAN 



Taking its rise south of Jebel Hauran, the second 
largest of the affluents of the Jordan, the river Jabbok, 
the Nahr Zerka of the Arabs, runs through Gilead. It 
was the ancient border of the children of Amnion. 1 
Here on its banks Jacob wrestled all night in prayer 
with the angel, who appears to have been the great 
' Angel of the Covenant,' the Lord Jesus, and, prevailing, 
received the name Israel (Sar B/, 1 Prince of God,' the 
Hebrew superlative for ' mighty prince ') ; and here 
Jacob and Esau on the following morning were happily 
reconciled. 2 Gilead originally meant ' a hard, rocky 
region,' but, by a slight change and play upon the 
word, it was by Jacob and Esau named 'the Heap of 
Witness,' whereas before it was ' Heap of Stones.' Such 
play upon words is a delight to Arabs, and constantly 
occurs in the Hebrew of the Old Testament. Mount 
Gilead, as this region is sometimes called, notwith- 
standing it consists of rocky mountains, is, and was, a 
very picturesque and fertile district — the one that fell 
to the lot of Gad. Here in later times, about twenty 
miles north-east of Ramoth Gilead, there rose the 
large and important town of Gerasa, now Jerash, the 
ruins of which are 1 by far the most beautiful and 
extensive east of the Jordan.' 

The district of the ' children of Amnion,' the 

1 Num. xxi. 24; Ueut. ii. 37, iii. 16. 

2 Gen. xxxii., xxxiii. 



2o6 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



Ammonite nation, lay to the eastward from Gilead, 
and here to this day remain the fine ruins of Rabbah, 
or Rabbath, twenty-two miles east of the Jordan, and 
fourteen miles north-east of Heshbon. 1 The ruins are 
very fine, but the words of Ezekiel have come true : 
it is a veritable ' stable for camels ' for the Bedaween who 
camp there. 2 It was a royal city, and bore the name 
of the ' City of Waters,' for here the Jabbok takes its rise 
within the basin containing the ruins of the town. 

South of Gilead is the southern portion of Moab, 
which was assigned to the tribe of Reuben. This is 
a very healthy region, once a land of corn, barley, and 
vineyards ; now, from Es Salt in the north to Kerak 
in the south, as we have said, without one town or 
village remaining. 

South of Moab stretches the land of Edom, empty 
and ruined. The splendid remains of Petra — the Sela 
of the Bible, a city wholly excavated in the face of cliffs 
of the most gorgeous colours, on each side of a long, 
rocky gorge — and Mount Hor, where Aaron died, are 
deeply interesting spots in this land. 

1 Deut. iii. n ; Joshua xiii. 25 ; 2 Sam. xi. 1, xii. 26, 27, 29 ; Jer. xlix. 
2, 3 ; Ezek. xxi. 20. 

2 Ezek. xxv. 5. 



A PALESTINE VINEYARD 



CHAPTER VIII 

JERUSALEM TO DOTHAN 

In a journey from Jerusalem to the north of Palestine 
experienced Eastern travellers generally stop the first 
night at some spot about nine or ten miles on the way, 
instead of the usual ' day's journey,' 1 which is about 
twenty to twenty-three miles. The reason for this practice 
is that, as travelling is, as we said, more or less dangerous, 
numbers go, if possible, together ; and should any not 
have joined the party at starting, they can come on 

1 Gen. xxx. 36; Exod. iii. 18, v, 3, viii. 27; Num. x. 33, xi. 31; 
1 Kings xix. 4 ; Jonah iii. 3, 4. 

207 



2o8 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



later and overtake it. Besides, everything — tents, beds, 
tables, chairs, fireplace, fuel, fodder, and food — has to 
be carried with the party. Should, as is frequently the 
case, some articles have been left behind, they can easily 
be sent for. This probably was the case with the 
Nazareth caravan, or camp, with which Joseph and Mary 
travelled home ; and the ' day's journey ' 1 they went 
would be the ordinary first, short day's journey, and it 
was not until the camp was pitched at night that they 
realized that ' the child Jesus was not in the company,' 
which would appear to have been a very large one, 
including many of their relatives and friends. 

On leaving Jerusalem, Neby Samwil, 'the prophet 
Samuel ' (the suggested Mizpeh), stands out conspicuously 
on our left, for it is 2,935 feet high — the loftiest mountain 
and most conspicuous feature in the landscape near 
Jerusalem. A mile and a half to the north of Neby 
Samwil lies Gibeon, the modern El Jib. This road, the 
ancient highway to the north, is everywhere over 2,000 
feet high ; but all the way the fig and olive flourish, on 
hills in some cases terraced to their summits. Many a 
bare hillside here shows traces of having formerly had 
these cultivated terraces. Our way takes us past the 
modern El Bireh, Beeroth, one of the four Hivite cities 
that, with Gibeon at their head, tricked Joshua into a 
treaty of peace, 2 and whose inhabitants as a punishment 
1 Luke ii. 44. 2 Joshua ix. 3-18. 



JERUSALEM TO DOTHAN 209 

were made hewers of wood and drawers of water for 
the Tabernacle service, and were afterwards called the 
Nethinim, the people Nathan — that is, ' given ' for this 
service. 1 

We next come to Beitin, Bethel, where the top of 




RUINS OF SHILOH 

the hill is 2,890 feet high ; and some miles farther on 
descend into the picturesque gorge of Ain Harameijah, 
the Robber's Fountain. A great hill rises sheer up 
about 1,100 feet above the pass on the right, and a 
mile to the south Tel Asur is still higher, being 3,318 

1 Joshua ix. 20-7 ; 1 Chron. ix. 2 ; Ezra ii. 43, 58, 70, vii. 7, 24 ; 
Neh. iii. 26, xi. 21. 



2io RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



feet above the sea, one of the greatest heights in Central 
and Southern Palestine, and commanding magnificent 
views. 

At a distance of some twenty miles from Jerusalem, 
two miles off the high-road Q n the right, we come to 
Shiloh, now known as Seilun, a form of the name 
which seems to appear in the expression ' The prophet 
Ahijah the Shilonite.' 1 No Bible spot in the Holy 
Land is fixed with more certainty than this. We read 
in Judges that it was ' on the north side of Bethel, on 
the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel 
to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.' 2 Lubben, 
about three miles to the north-east, evidently marks the 
site of Lebonah. Shiloh is an utter ruin. One con- 
spicuous tree stands on rising ground, probably the 
centre of the place. Here once the Tabermicle was 
reared, and the tribes came up to worship at ' the 
sanctuary of the Lord.' There is a fine spring about 
three-quarters of a mile from the town. Here was the 
yearly feast of Jehovah, when the women came out ' to 
dance in the dances.' A wild scene was that dance, 
when the other tribes who had sworn not to give their 
daughters in marriage to Benjamin, to save the now 
womanless tribe from extinction, commanded the 600 
men who survived, ' Go ye, and lie in wait in the 
vineyards ; and see, and behold if the daughters of 
1 1 Kings xi. 29. 2 Judges xxi. 19. 



JERUSALEM TO DOTHAN 



21 I 



Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come ye 
out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife 
from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of 
Benjamin.' 1 Let the reader remember that the carry- 
ing oft* of wives in this way would not be anything 
like so shocking as such a proceeding here, seeing that 
women in the East are and were ' given in marriage ' 
by their parents, in every instance, without their consent 
being asked or their preference consulted, and even 
without their having seen their intended husbands ! 

It may be well to point out that men and 
women throughout the East never dance together, 
such a proceeding being held to be immoral. Men 
dance alone, and that is thought right, and women 
dance alone amongst themselves, and that is thought 
right. Some women are ahnehs, or public dancers ; 
but this is not thought a respectable calling. When 
Herodias's daughter danced before Herod and his court, 
the girl did that which for a princess was most dis- 
graceful, and she demeaned herself thus to compass 
the death of her father's faithful monitor, John the 
Baptist." When Herod said, ' Whatever thou shalt ask 
of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom,' 
1 kingdom ' here, bv the figure of metonymy, stands for 
'the revenue of the kingdom' ; and this again, by the 
figure of synecdoche (that is, the whole of a thing 
1 Judges \xi. 19-23. 2 Matt. xiv. 3-12; Mark vi. 21-9. 



2i2 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 

put for a part of it), for the revenue of a single year. 
All that he meant, and all that Ahasuerus meant in a 
similar promise to Esther, 1 was, ' I will spend half my 
annual revenue on making you a present.' 

According to the Jews, the Tabernacle and Ark abode 
at Shiloh for 369 years. Whether it were there so 
long or not — and Scripture does not make it quite clear — 
Shiloh must have been indeed a populous and prosperous 
spot, and all the hillsides around must have been 
terraced with fruit culture to their summits. But now 
all is utter ruin. There is not an inhabited house, 
and the remains scarcely show above the ground. 
Gone are the vineyards where the Benjamites lay in 
wait, and the site is now shut in by bare and lofty hills 
of grey limestone, empty of all life save here and there 
a few solitary fig-trees. Israel's idolatry provoked the 
Most High to righteous anger : 

And He forsook the tabernacle at Shiloh, 
The tent He had pitched among men. 2 

Later on Jeremiah, warning his people that it would 
be just the same with the Temple, cries, in the name of 
the Lord : 

1 For go ye now to My place which was in Shiloh, 
Where I set My name formerly ; 
And see what I did to it, 

Because of the wickedness of My people Israel.' 3 
1 Esther v. 6, vii. 2. 2 Ps. lxxviii. 60. 3 Jer. vii. 12. 



A PALESTINE SHEPHERD 



2i 4 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



To this day earth could hardly show a more complete 
picture of desolation and judgment than here at Seilun. 

The word 'place' here in the Hebrew is makoam, 
1 shrine,' the word used of the idolatrous shrines or 
places of worship of the nations of Canaan that Israel 
were commanded to cast down. ' Ye shall utterly 
destroy all the places \_makcani\, wherein the nations 
which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the 
high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every 
green tree : and ye shall destroy their altars, and break 
to pieces their pillars, and burn their images of Ash- 
toreth with fire ; and ve shall hew down the graven 
images of their gods, and destroy the names of them 
out of that niakoam! 1 Israel never did extirpate them ; 
and all over Palestine to-day, on the hilltops of the 
mountains of Judah, Ephraim, and Naphtali, the whole 
central range, these shrines are to be seen, marked in 
most instances by a small square building surmounted 
by a dome, and sometimes with a 1 holy,' rag-covered 
tree beside it. Mr. Neil has given a very full account 
of these ' places ' and the superstitions connected with 
them, together with the numerous curious and hitherto 
unsuspected Scriptural allusions. - 

Here we may glance at harvesting operations, 

1 Deut. xii. 2, 3. 

2 Pictured Palestine, by James Neil, M.A., 4th edition, pp. 192-215 
(Messrs. J. Nisbet & Co.). 



JERUSALEM TO DOTHAN 



2 I S 



About the first week in May, if possible before the 
scorching shiroccos begin to blow, amid great rejoicing, 
the cutting begins, and the crop is at once carried in 
small sheaves, chiefly on the backs ot camels and asses, 
to the threshing-floor. Mr. James Xeil tells us : 

1 This is a tolerably smooth exposed rock surface 
near the village under the open sky. Where rock is 
wanting, a well-beaten compost of clay and cow-dung 
takes its place. 

' Here the grain, whether wheat or barley, the only 
two corn crops ordinarily grown, is placed in a heap, 
called a sobeh, in the centre of the floor, from which 
it is raked down to form a layer about a foot deep for 
the purpose of threshing. This is done in three ways. 
Sometimes a heavy sledge of logs ot wood, armed on 
its under side with sharp pieces ot iron or black basalt 
stone, is drawn over it bv oxen, the driver standing 
upon it. and urging on the cattle with a goad. This 
is the ''sharp threshing-sledge having teeth" of the 
Bible, 1 and the tribulum of the Roman writers on 
agriculture, for it was used in Italy in the days of 
Virgil and Yarro. Its Arabic name is moarej, evidently 
the same as the Hebrew mcctrao-, 11 threshing-sledge," 
for the hard g of Hebrew is always changed into a 

O J o 

soft j in Arabic. 

' Another rarer torm is a sledge with a number of 
1 Isa. xli. 15. 



2i 6 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



iron-shod rollers, or small wheels, upon which the 
driver sits in a chair. Varro describes this, and calls 
it the "Carthaginian wagon." Evidently this colony 
from the Phoenician shores of Palestine had taken the 
implement with them when they migrated to Carthage. 

4 The reader will now understand that it was not so 
many flails, which would have been quite useless for 
such a purpose, but these huge " threshing instruments," 
that Oman offered King David for wood to burn the 
sacrifice that he was about to offer up on that wealthy 
Fellahti s threshing-floor on Mount Moriah. Isaiah 
alludes to both these threshing-sledges when speaking 
of the different and discriminating methods of God's 
spiritual husbandry : 

The sesame is not threshed with a sharp threshing-sledge, 
Neither is a cart-wheel rolled upon the cummin. 1 

' As these heavy sledges are drawn over the layer 
of straw and ears, they rub out the grain. This, by its 
form and weight, sinks immediately through the straw, 
and thus escapes being hurt. The straw, which by its 
lightness remains on the surface, is slowly broken and 
crushed into tiny pieces. Thus a double process goes 
on by means of this simple but effective treatment. 
Not only is the corn threshed out, but the straw is 
at the same time prepared for cattle-fodder. In this 

1 Isa. xxviii. 27. 



JERUSALEM TO DOTHAN 217 




BEDAWEEN TENTS 



crushed state it is called teben, and is used to mix with 
the barley with which all their animals are fed, just as 
we mix chopped hay with oats — but this crushing is 
far superior to our chopping as a means of preparing 
cattle-food. 

There is a special word in Hebrew for straw in its 
natural state, whether in its full length with ear attached, 
or as stubble — kash, from kashash, 'he gathered.' In 
Arabic to-day they use exactly the same terms, teben 
and kashy with precisely the same meaning. Our trans- 
lators have been uniform in their rendering teben in 
every instance as ' straw,' and kash as ' stubble,' so 
that the English reader can distinguish them wherever 
they occur. 



2i8 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



1 We have here the origin of our word "tribulation," 
from the Latin tribulum, ,l a threshing-sledge," and 
can observe its singularly appropriate and beautiful 
meaning. The harsh action of the heavy-armed sledge, 
as it rubs and drives out the corn and crushes and 
breaks up the heap, fully illustrates the true action of 
trial and affliction. While the chaff and straw are 
bruised and broken to atoms, the effect of the tribu- 
lum on the good wheat is only to separate it unhurt — 
purified from its surroundings — the precious from the 
vile. Thus <l through many tribulations we must enter 
into the kingdom of God," for sanctified affliction to 
the believer is gain, and not loss. 1 It purifies his 
nature, but preserves him unhurt for the heavenly 
garner. Trial and sorrow in the case of the unsaved 
falls with crushing and destroying power. Well does 
the Apostle distinguish this different effect of tribula- 
tion when he says, " Godly sorrow worketh repentance 
unto salvation not to be repented of, but worldly sorrow 
worketh death." 2 

• The third method of threshing, and that which is 
the common and universal way, is simply to turn the 
oxen over the layer of wheat or barley as it lies on 
the threshing-floor, and allow the work to be done 
entirely by their hoofs. The Fellahheen will tell you 
this is the best way, because it best crushes and softens 
1 Acts xiv. 22. -2 Cor. vii. io. 



JERUSALEM TO DOTH AN 219 

the teben, and though it takes more time, they prefer 
it to the others. This must have been the same in 
Bible days, for the Hebrew verb "to thresh" is doosk, 
which has its root-meaning "to trample down/' "to 
tread under foot." 1 

' They never muzzle the oxen whilst treading out, 
or threshing, and they will tell you it would be a great 




PLOUGHING 



sin to do so. " Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when 
he treads out," or "threshes," said the merciful Mosaic 
law, 2 a command which is twice used by the Apostle 
Paul as an allegorical teaching that " the labourer is 
worthy of his hire" — that is, " the minister of the gospel 
is worthy of support from the Church." 3 It is indeed 

1 See Job xxxix. 15 ; Dan. vii. 23. 2 Deut. xxv. 4. 

3 1 Cor. ix. 9 ; 1 Tim. v. 18. 



2 2o RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



in every way a beautiful and speaking allegory, for the 
faithful minister of the word needs to be as strong, 
diligent, patient, and obedient as an ox ; and his work 
in the word is just the same, namely, separating out 
the saved, believing people of God, " the good seed," 
which "are the children of the kingdom," 1 from the 
teben, 2 the impenitent and unbelieving, and preparing 
the wheat for the Heavenly Father's garner!' 3 

' Keeping this distinction in mind, we shall under- 
stand the great difficulty in which the children of Israel 
were placed by Pharaoh's tyrannical edict, when they 
had to gather straw in its natural state (kash), instead 
of being supplied with ready-made teben, or "crushed 
straw." For Pharaoh commanded " the taskmasters of 
the people, and their officers, saying, Ye shall no more 
give the people crashed strazv [teben] to make brick, as 
heretofore : let them go and gather crushed straw [teben] 
for themselves. And the measure [or number] of the 
bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay 

1 Matt. xiii. 38. See also Jer. xxiii. 28. 

2 Teben is always the picture of the unbelieving and unsaved. Job 
cries of the ruin of the wicked : 

They are as crushed straw {teben) before the wind (Job x\i. 18) ; 

and Jeremiah in the same sense asks : 

What is the crushed straw {teben) to the wheat? (Jer. xxiii. 28). 

3 Pictured Palestine, by James Neil, M.A., 4th edition, pp. 267-74 
(Messrs. J. Nisbet & Co.). 



JERUSALEM TO DOTHAN 



2 2 1 



upon them ; ye shall not diminish ought thereof. . . . 
So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the 
land of Egypt to gather straw [or stubble— kash\ for 
the crushed straw [tcbaf]^ 1 It was this "crushed straw" 
that was required to mix with the clay to make sun- 




THRESHING WHEAT ON THE OPEN-AIR THRESHING-FLOOR 



dried bricks, as is still the case in Egypt to the 
present day. 2 It was now about two months to harvest, 
and they would not only have to hunt for last year's 

1 Exod. v. 6-8, i2. 

2 Teben comes from the Hebrew root banah, ' he built,' from its 
use in this way in brickmaking. 



222 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



straw in the few places where it still remained, but, 
when they had collected it, would further have to 
manufacture it themselves into teben. In our version 
the English reader perceives only half their difficulty. 
But the officers of the children of Israel would under- 
stand that when they had managed to find ordinary 
straw— a rare commodity at any time in Egypt, and 
then it was almost a year since the last harvest — they 
had yet to crush it on the threshing-floors by a long 
and laborious process. Well might they see "that they 
were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not diminish 
ought from your bricks of your daily task."' 1 

Going along the ancient road, which at times shows 
marks of Roman builders, we pass Lebonah an hour 
after leaving Shiloh. A mile beyond we climb to the 
village of Sawieh, where a fine evergreen oak is so 
striking a landmark that we are reminded how very 
few forest trees are now left standing in Palestine ! 
A mile beyond a splendid view is obtained of Ebal 
and Gerizim, nine miles to the north, and far away the 
dazzling white snow-capped cone of Hermon. Descend- 
ing, we cross the great plain of Mukhnah. Towards 
the end of this plain we turn to the west and enter 
the well-watered and fertile valley where Shechem still 
stands. It is now called Nablous, an Arab corruption 

1 Exod. v. 19. Palestine Explored, by James Neil, M.A., 
10th edition, pp. 226-7 (Messrs. J. Nisbet & Co.). 



JERUSALEM TO DOTHAN 



of the Roman name Neapolis, or ' New City.' At 
the entrance of this valley, bounded on the south by 
Mount Gerizim and on the north by Mount Ebal, on 
the south side, beneath the ruins of an ancient church, 
is shown the traditional Jacob's Well. It is more 
than doubtful if this is the well of which we read in 
John's Gospel, 1 for the sufficient reason that, though 
it may be ico feet deep (filled up, as it is, with 
stones thrown into it, it is only 75 feet deep now) by 
" t \ feet in diameter, it receives but a very little water 
in winter by infiltration through the sides, and is quite 
dry in summer, when water is most wanted. It therefore 
seems impossible to believe that a well of this, for Pales- 
tine, most unusual depth, dry for seven months of the 
year, would have been dug, as it must have been, at 
great cost by that shrewd, business-like, and experi- 
enced herdsman the patriarch Jacob. Besides, the 
word in the Greek here is pege t which in classical 
Greek, both in literal and figurative usage, stands for 
' spring,' or ' fount,' or ' source,' as of rivers, and 
in the Septuagint always stands for those words in 
Hebrew which undoubtedly mean ' a spring of living- 
water.' This well, connected with no kind of spring, 
cannot therefore be the pege of John iv. 6. When 
Christ told the Samaritan woman that if she had 
asked He would have given her ' living water,' 

1 John iv. 5-30. 



224 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



which in her carnal state she must have understood 
as spoken of the water of a spring, she replied, ' Sir, 
Thou hast nothing to draw T with, and the well is deep; 
whence then hast Thou that living water ? ' — words 
which imply, if words have any meaning, that had He 
a rope and bucket, ' living water ' — that is, spring 
water — could have been obtained by Him from that 
well. 1 How carefully the books of travellers should be 
read may be gathered from the words of so eminent 
a writer as Dr. Cunningham Geikie, who says, of this 
monkish production of the Middle Ages, an obvious 
fraud found beneath a ruined church, 1 The well 
itself, beyond the possibility of doubt, is that at the 
side of which our blessed Lord sat.' Protestants 
cannot be too often warned that most of these so-called 
sites of sacred events in the Holy Land are about as 
genuine as this. 

Joseph's Tomb is pointed out about 600 yards north 
of the well, but there is no evidence whatever except 
tradition, which points to this exact spot — though 
both Jacob's tomb and his loved son's grave must be 
somewhere in this neighbourhood. About half a mile 
north from the traditional Jacob's Well, on the slope 
of Ebal, is the village of 'Asker, which may be the 
Sychar of the fourth Gospel, the village of the 
Samaritan woman, 2 where Christ stayed two days, 
1 John iv. 10- t 1. 2 John iv. 5. 




INTERIOR OF PALESTINE VILLAGE HOUSE 



<5 



226 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



and at His word so many of the inhabitants became 
believers. 

Shechem is one of the greenest and most fertile 
spots in Palestine. Here, when the conquest of Ai 
had put them in possession of Shechem, Joshua called 
all the people together, the law of Moses was publicly 
read, and they entered into a solemn covenant with 
God, their elders, officers, and judges standing around, 
the Levites in the centre guarding the Ark, and all 
the tribes, six on Gerizim and six on Ebal, thronging 
these two mountains, as they must have done, up to 
their summits — a grand and impressive scene. 1 Twenty- 
four years later Joshua gathered all Israel here again 
to listen to his farewell address, and the solemn 
covenant was renewed once more, and a ' great stone ' 
of witness was set up ' under the oak that was by the 
sanctuary of Jehovah.' 2 

Here, on the top of Mount Gerizim — the spoken 
voice in Palestine, if there is no wind to obstruct it, can 
be heard in that pure, dry air for two miles — Jotham 
spoke that fable of the trees going forth to anoint a 
king over them, and, when the olive, the fig, and the 
vine refused the crown, anointing as their sovereign a 
species of common blackthorn. Gerizim, rising 1,250 
feet, the Mountain of Blessings, has well-watered, 

1 Joshua viii. 30-5 ; Deut, xi. 29-30, xxvii. 11-26, 

2 Joshua xxiv. 1-28. 



JERUSALEM TO DOTH AN 227 



green, and fertile slopes looking towards Shechem, 
because that way it has a northern aspect, whilst the 
higher Ebal, 1,500 feet above the plain, the Mountain 
of Curses, having a southern aspect towards the town, 
is on that side dry, bare, and waterless, truly an 
' evil ' aspect, as the name Ebal means. As Jotham 
spoke his bold and contemptuous fable, olive, fig, and 
vine, and the atad (the blackthorn) would be there on 
every terrace and in every nook of green Gerizim to 
give it local colour. All along these central mountains 
splendid views are to be had, and Mount Gerizim and 
Mount Ebal are no exceptions. From both of these 
heights, looking westward, Joppa can be seen, 
36 miles away, by the sea, and, 18 miles distant to the 
east, the chasm of the Jordan, and the mountains of 
Gilead 40 miles farther. From Ebal the view is even 
grander, for to the north Safed can be seen some 
40 miles away, and Mount Hermon 75 miles as the 
crow flies, and on the east the Hauran Plain. Shechem 
is the first town mentioned in Abraham's history, and 
indeed the first town in Palestine mentioned in the 
Bible, 1 and was the scene of violent and critical events 
in the life of the much-tried Jacob. 2 It was the centre 
of the three western cities of refuge, with Hebron on 
the south and Kadesh on the north. 3 

1 Gen. xii. 6. The ' Sichem ' of this text is Shechem. 

2 Gen. xxxiv. 3 Num. xxxv. 10-28; Deut xix. 1-13 : Joshua xx. 1-9. 



2 28 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



The great interest of Shechem, next to its being 
in the neighbourhood of the beautiful story of John iv., 
the spot where to the sinful but awakened woman of 
Samaria the Lord proclaimed for the first time the 
true nature of worship under the New Covenant, 1 is the 
fact that the tiny remnant of the Samaritan nation (they 
were only 135 in all in 1872) are found in this town 
and in this town alone. They have a young high-priest, 
a singularly handsome man, and they all bear a striking 
resemblance to the Jews ; and Colonel Conder gives 
many reasons for supposing that they are descended 
from a remnant of the ten tribes. They were specially 
obnoxious to all the Jews because they held Gerizim 
and the temple they built there to be the true religious 
centre ; and especially to the party of the Pharisees, 
because, in common with the Sadducees, the Samaritans 
denied the resurrection. The Pharisees, who were the 
greatest enemies of the Samaritans, when at length 
they obtained the high-priesthood, under Asmonaean 
Hyrcanus, destroyed the Samaritan temple, 129 B.C., 
and after this the party remained in power till 35 B.C. 
1 In our Lord's time the animosity between Jews and 
Samaritans had reached its height. According to the 
Talmud, wine for the Temple passing through Samaria 
became unfit for use, and a Jew was forbidden to help a 
wounded Samaritan or Samaritan woman in trouble. 

1 John iv. 20-4. 



THE SAMARITAN HIGH-PRIEST DISPLAYING AN ANCIENT SAMARITAN 
ROLL OF THE LAW OF MOSES 



2 3 o RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



On the other hand, murder and treachery are charged 
against the Cuthim [the Talmudic name for Samari- 
tans] : they lighted false beacons in order to confuse 
the Jewish calendar, depending on the appearance of the 
new moon [which was announced by beacon fires] ; they 
betrayed the Jews to the Romans; they polluted the 
Temple with bones. Such crimes could never be for- 
given, and the Jews in contempt cast them out as 
heathens and foreigners.' Hence the Jews 'had no 
dealings with Samaritans/ 1 and it was great courage in 
Christ, and must have brought great hatred upon Him, 
when He told the parable of the good Samaritan," and 
when He publicly called attention to the fact that the 
only thankful leper out of the ten He cleansed was a 
Samaritan. 3 

The Samaritans possess a very ancient roll of the 
Law of Moses, written in Hebrew, in Samaritan 
characters. They manifest great reluctance to show 
it. The roll is said to be written on the skins of about 
twenty rams, which were slain as thankofferings, and 
the writing is on the hair side. It bears marks of great 
age. Its title, written in a curious acrostic form, is : 
' I, Abishuah, son of Phineas, son of Eleazar, son ot 
Aaron the priest (the favour of Jehovah be upon them), 
for His glory I have written this Holy Torah [copy of 
the Law] in the entrance of the Tabernacle of the 
1 John iv. 9. 2 Luke x. 30-7. 3 Luke xvii. 12-19. 



JERUSALEM TO DOTH AN 231 

congregation on Mount Gerizim, even Bethel, in the 
thirteenth year of the possession by the children of 
Israel of the land of Canaan and all its boundaries. I 
thank the Lord.' 

One of the most interesting sights in all Syria is 
the observance of the Passover, with the roasting whole 
of paschal lambs, at the ruins of the Samaritan temple 
on Mount Gerizim, the only spot in the world where 
the Mosaic ritual of sacrifice survives. 

The ruins of the city of Samaria, five miles north- 
west of Shechem, are in a fine situation, and one that, 
before the days of cannon, must have been almost 
impregnable. They stand on the summit of a steep 
hill 400 feet high, with mountains rising at a distance 
all round it. The village of Sebustieh is built on the 
brow of this hill. The most striking remains are 
Herod's colonnade, many pillars of which are still 
standing, a street of columns more than a mile long 
running round the hill. The scenery around is lovely. 
Samaria was built 925 B.C. by Omri, sixth King of 
Israel, for the capital of the ten-tribed kingdom. 1 It 
was soon defiled by Ahab, his son, who, led by his 
cruel pagan consort Jezebel, a Sidonian princess, built 
a house of Baal there. 2 Three Kings of Syria — Benha- 
dad I., 3 Benhadad 1 1., 4 and Benhadad III. 5 — all oppressed 

1 1 Kings xvi. 24. 2 1 Kings xvi. 32. 3 1 Kings xx. 34. 
4 1 Kings xx. 1-34. 5 2 Kings vi. 24-vii. 20. 



RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



it. Worst of all must have been the awful three years' 
siege of the city by Assyrians under Sargon, ending 
in the overthrow of the northern kingdom of Israel, 
and the carrying away of the people captive to Assyria. 1 
Then arose the Samaritan nation, formed by the people 
deported by the Assyrian king from Babylon, from 
Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from 
Sepharvaim to fill the land from which he had carried 
Israel away; and then began that mongrel and apostate 
religion, of which we read, ' They feared Jehovah, but 
served their own gods, after the manner of the nations 
whence they had been brought.' 2 

East of Mount Ebal, the great Far'ah Valley, running 
down to the Damieh ford of Jordan, has its commence- 
ment. Here Colonel Conder found a great number of 
fine springs which form the abundant head-waters of 
what lower down the valley becomes ' the principal 
western affluent of Jordan south of the vale of Jezreelf 
The name Salem occurs three miles south of these 
springs, and 'Ainoon, a village four miles to the north, 
preserves the name of Aenon. John the Baptist, who, 
we have seen, was baptizing at Bethabara, far north of 
Judea, and who ' came into all the country about the 
Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance,' 3 ' also was 
baptizing in Aenon near Salem, because there was much 

1 2 Kings xvii. 3-23. 2 2 Kings xvii. 33. 

3 Luke iii. 3. 



JERUSALEM TO DOTHAN 233 

water there.' 1 Everything seems to point to the head- 
waters of the Wady Far'ah as being the spot. Colonel 
Conder says this site is ' the only one where all the 
requisites are met — the two names [A.enon and Salem, 
which occur together nowhere else], the fine water 




NAB LOUS, THE ANCIENT SHECHEM 

supply, the proximity of the desert, and the open 
character of the ground. Here, then, in the wild desert 
valley, beneath the red precipices where the hawk and 
kite find nests in " the stairs of the rocks," or by the 
banks of the shingly stream, with its beautiful oleander 

1 John iii. 23. 



234 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



blossoms shining in the dusky foliage of luxuriant shrubs, 
we may picture the dark figure of the Baptist in his 
robe of camel's hair, with the broad leather Bedaween 
belt round his loins, preaching to the Judean multitude 
of pale citizens, portly, grey-bearded rabbis, Roman 
soldiers in leathern armour and shining helmets, sharp- 
faced publicans, and, above all, to the great mass of 
oppressed peasantry, the " beasts of the people," uncared 
for, stricken with palsy, with blindness, with fever, with 
leprosy, but eagerly looking forward to the appearance 
of that Messiah who came to preach the gospel of the 
poor.' 1 

Dothan appears to have been at the ruin of Tel 
Dothaim. It is said to furnish the best pasture in all 
these parts, and it was here that those experienced 
herdsmen came from Shechem, and were found by their 
brother Joseph. On ' the dark brown plain of 'Arabeh, 
to the west, runs the main road to Egypt — the 
road by which Thothmes and Necho came up from 
the sea-coast, and by which the Midianite merchants 
went down with their captive,' the Ishmaelites, who 
' came from Gilead with their camels bearing spices 
and balm and myrrh, going to carry them down to 
Egypt.' 2 What a romantic, thrilling story is that of 

1 Tent Work in Palestine, by Colonel C. R. Conder, R.E., ist edition, 
vol. i. p. 93. 

2 Gen. xxxvii. 25-8. 



JERUSALEM TO DOTHAN 235 

Joseph, and how lifelike, read here in the East ! Dr. 
Thomson well says, 'It is worthy of remark that these 
modern Ishmaelites would not now hesitate to make 
just such a purchase, and actually do in certain parts of 
the country, and it is interesting to find 44 balm " con- 
nected with Gilead. Jeremiah long after exclaims, 
"Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician 
there ? " ' 1 

1 Jer. viii. 22. 



THE BAY OF ACRE, LOOKING SOUTH 
TO THE TOWN OF HAIFA 
('THE HAVEN'), AT THE FOOT 
OF MOUNT CARMEL 



CHAPTER IX 

GALILEE, JOPPA TO BEYROUT, LEBANON 

Going north, the great plain of Esdraelon is reached, 
with J en in, the truly picturesque modern town of three 
thousand inhabitants, at its southern extremity, the 
Engannim, or ' Spring of Gardens,' 1 of Scripture, one 
of the cities of the tribe, 2 to w T hich fell this fine and 
fertile though poorly watered plain. It is about fourteen 
miles across from north to south, and fifteen miles from 
south-east to north-west. No Bible towns occur upon 

1 Joshua xix. 21, xxi. 29. 

2 The tribe of Issachar (Joshua xix. 17-23). 

236 




GALILEE 



237 



it, though seven interesting places are on the hills around. 
The plain, about 200 to 250 feet above sea-level, 
Colonel Conder speaks of as ' one of the richest natural 
fields of cultivation in Palestine — perhaps one might say 
in the world.' It has a soil of loose basaltic stone. 
The river Kishon, with its source at the foot of Tabor, 
on the north-east, runs through the middle of the plain, 
and then out into the plain of Acre, through a narrow 
gorge, hidden amongst oleanders, and along the base 
of the range of Carmel, thirteen miles long, and so to 
the sea at Haifa. To the north of this bold and 
beautiful gorge at its narrowest part, where the Kishon 
cuts its way into the plain of Acre, close to the river, 
is the little village of Harathiyeh, named from the 
beautiful woods here, the Harosheth, or ' Forest,' of 
Judges iv., where Sisera dwelt, or had his headquarters 
camp. 1 Farther to the north still, amongst the extensive 
forest or thickets here, runs from east to west the 
Wady El Malak, 'the King's Valley.' Colonel C. R. 
Conder, who probably knows Palestine better than any 
other living man, says of their survey work, ' For quiet 
beauty we saw nothing in Palestine equal to this valley.' 
A southern stream joins the river Kishon in the 
centre of the plain from a source in the mountains 
some seven miles east of Jenin. 

This plain was the great battlefield of Israel again 
1 Judges iv. 2-13. 



2 3 8 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 

and again, for, as Napoleon well said, Acre is the key 
of Palestine. The final struggle of Armageddon will 
be here, for Colonel Conder has discovered the name 
at last at Mujedd'a, a large ruin between Jezreel and 
Bethshan, on the slopes of the south-east end of Gilboa. 
In this plain the brave stand was made by Barak 
and Deborah against Jabin, King of Canaan, which 
ended in the crushing defeat of Sisera and all his 
forces, driven into the treacherous muddy quagmires 
of the Kishon, swollen by a sudden storm ; for, as the 
Canaanites made for their quarters at Harosheth, the 
swollen river at this part of the gorge would sweep to 
death the troops crushed together in the narrow defile, 
when * Barak pursued after the chariots and after the 
host, unto Harosheth of the heathen nations.' 1 

The river Kishon swept them away, 
That river of battles, the river Kishon. 2 

At that time 

They fought from heaven, 

The stars in their courses fought against Sisera. 3 

It has been finely suggested, ' The season was probably 
that of the autumn storms, which occur early in 
November. At this time the meteoric showers are 
commonest, and are remarkably fine in effect, seen in 
the evening light at a season when the air is specially 

1 Judges iv. 16. 2 Judges v. 21. 3 Judges v. 20. 



RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



clear and bright. The scene presented by the falling, 
fiery stars, as the defeated host fled away by night, is 
one very striking to the fancy, and would form a fine 
subject for an artist's pencil.' 

Zerin, on the northern shoulder of Gilboa, seems 
to be the site of Jezreel, the summer palace of the 
kings of Israel, on a knoll 500 feet high. Traces of 
antiquity are wanting, but the site seems to agree with 
the scriptural requirements. Here was that fatal battle 
with the Philistines when Saul and Jonathan fell. 1 
Somewhere on the south-east, where rock-cut wine- 
presses still show on the now barren hills, Naboth's 
vineyard may have stood, and somewhere here that faith- 
ful man fell a victim to Jezebel's cruel plot. 2 Here it 
was, about two years after, that clogs licked the blood 
of fallen Ahab. Ere another thirteen years had 
passed, the body of his son Joram, slain by Jehu, was 
cast from his chariot and shamefully exposed on the 
face of that accursed vineyard ; whilst Jezebel, thrown 
down by her own eunuchs into the street, was devoured 
by the dogs, as Jehovah had declared. 3 

A bik'ah, or ' long valley between parallel ranges,' 
those of Gilboa and Jebel Duhy (or Little Hermon, as it 
was by a mistake called in the Middle Ages), nine miles 
long, ' the bik'ah of Megiddo ' 4 (for that town commanded 

1 1 Sam. xxxi. 3 1 Kings xxi. 23 ; 2 Kings ix. 30-7. 

2 1 Kings xxi. 4 Zech. xii. 11. 



GALILEE 



241 



its southern entrance), is the exit from the plain of 
Jezreel which leads to Beisan, the Bethshan and Beth- 
shean of the Old Testament, four miles from the 
Jordan. This bik'ah, for such it really is, now bears 
the name of the Wady Jalud, after the name of the 
stream that flows through it. By this valley ' the 
Midianites, and the Amalekites, and the children of 
the East ' must have streamed into the fertile plain 
of Jezreel for spoil, a mighty Bedaween host, ' with 
their cattle and their tents, as grasshoppers for multitude, 
for both they and their camels were without number.' 1 
Here was the scene of Gideon's famous victory over 
them. 2 All down this valley one can see from the 
heights over Jezreel for some nine miles, so that Jehu's 
furious approach could have been watched the whole 
way. 3 The scene, like so many others recorded in the 
Bible, is very lifelike as one realizes it on the spot. 

Bethshan, now a tiny village, is surrounded by 
extensive ruins, and is in a splendid position. It has 
an abundance of water, and there are remains of five 
aqueducts. As a city, it must come second only to 
Damascus for its water-supply. Here the brave men 
of Jabesh Gilead, in return for Saul's having come to 
the rescue of their city, 4 came by night and took 
down the bodies of Saul and Jonathan, which the 

1 Judges vi. 3-5. 3 2 Kings ix. 16-27. 

2 Judges vii.-viii. 4 1 Sam. xi. 4-1 1. 

16 



242 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 

Philistines — according to the universal practice to this 
day in the East of insulting by indecent exposure the 
bodies of fallen foes — had decapitated and hung on 
the wall of Bethshan. 1 . 

Shunem would seem to have been at the modern 
village of Sulam. It stands on the slopes of Jebel 
Duhy, about 450 feet high, and commands line views 
over the great plain of Jezreel, now bearing a Greek 
form of its name, Esdraelon. A spring here gives a 
beautiful little bayarah, or orchard, with a hedge of 
the weird and picturesque cactus. In this village 'the 
great woman ' of Shunem, probably the sheikh's wife, 
provided a pleasant resting-place for the prophet Elisha, 
and received so rich a reward for her kindness. 2 

Two or three miles farther is the modern village 
of Nein, apparently the Nain of the Gospel, where, 
by raising the widow's son to life, 3 Jesus must have 
brought, by His presence at a funeral, more joy than 
Nain had ever witnessed at a wedding! How important 
for happiness is the realized presence and power ol 
Jesus ! and this may now be had in all earth's sorrows — 
though He is personally in heaven, and not here — by 
the presence and power of His great agent the Holy 
Spirit. 

Endor would seem to have been at 'Ain Dur, 

1 1 Sam. xxxi. 11-13. 2 2 Kings iv. 8-37, viii. 1-6. 

3 Luke vii. 1 1-7. 



GALILEE 



243 



three miles east of Nain, a wretched-looking place, 
but commanding beautiful views. The declivity of the 
mountain here is full of weird, dark caves, many of 
which are now used as stables, and in one of these 
the witch of Endor may have entertained Saul on that 
fatal night before he died. 1 

Looking from Nain or Endor, about four miles 
across the plain of Esdraelon to the north, rises the 
striking outline of Mount Tabor, standing alone, and 
rising up like a huge cone, 1,500 feet above the plain. 
Essentially true is the description : ' Surely as Tabor 
is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, 
he cometh.' 2 Tabor in front of, and with a background 
of, mountains is among them. Standing here too, this 
conical mount of Tabor rises most conspicuously in 
front, whilst in a straight line behind it to the north, 
55 miles away, though in the perspective they seem 
brought near together, tow r ers the lofty, snow-clad cone 
of Hermon. Very clearly it brings out the connexion 
of thought when the Psalmist exclaims : 

The north and the south, Thou hast created them, 
Tabor and Hermon rejoice in Thy name. 3 

This mountain was one of the northern borders of 
the tribal possessions of Issachar. 4 Here Barak and 

1 1 Sam. xxviii. 5-24. 3 Ps. lxxxix. 12. 

2 Jer. xlvi. 18. 4 Joshua xix. 22. 



244 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



Deborah gathered together ten thousand men, and down 
the sides of this mountain, which has witnessed so many 
battles, was that ugly Jewish rush, which afterwards 
so often availed to break even the ranks of Roman 
legions, and before which the mighty host of Jabin, 
King of Canaan, broke and fled. 1 The mountain is 
full of wild game, and is in consequence the haunt of 
wild beasts, and this seems to be the allusion in the 
words addressed to the priests of the kingdom of Israel, 
who ought to have watched over the people's safety, 
but who, on the contrary, hunted them down and 
helped in their destruction : 

Ye have been a snare at Mizpah, 
And a net spread upon Tabor. 2 

Mizpah here appears to have been a height rising over 
the plain of Esdraelon to the east. 

Nazareth is some five and a half miles west of Mount 
Tabor in a beautifully retired position, two miles up a 
little dale that runs northward out of the great plain of 
Jezreel. The water-supply is poor, and it must always 
have been a small village. We should never have 
heard of it, but for the exceeding honour put upon it 
in its being the home of the Lord Jesus from some 
two years of age until He entered on His prophetic 
ministry at thirty. In this truly favoured spot, for 

] Judges iv. 1-16. 2 Hos. v. 1. 



GALILEE 245 

twenty-eight years, as child, youth, and young man, 
Nazareth witnessed a sinless life ! Earth holds no 
parallel to this, for Adam and Eve fell before there 
were any to look upon the beauty of an immaculate 
life. Only Nazareth has had this blest experience : a 




gideon's' fountain, ain jalud 



life, be it remembered, not hidden amidst the crowds 
of a city, but lived in the open, in a tiny village, where 
every eye could see. What was man's judgement at 
the only time when for long years he had seen a blame- 
less and perfect life? After His first sermon in the 
synagogue, when, 'in the power of the Spirit,' 'He 



246 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up" ' all 
they in the synagogue rose up and thrust Him out of 
the city, and led Him unto the brow of the hill on 
which their city was built, that they might cast Him 
down headlong.' 1 O lost, guilty, ruined, helpless man, 
this was thy judgement of a sinless life,, after witness- 
ing it for twenty-eight years ! Truly in nothing more 
than in thy utter rejection of God's ' Holy Child Jesus' 
is seen thy need of a Saviour ! There are many 
steep cliffs along the upper part of that side of the 
valley on which Nazareth stands — one, 1,000 feet high 
at the south end, called ' the Leap of our Lord..' With 
what a voice they speak to us ! 

Though Nazareth was itself such a retired spot, 
it was in the very centre of Roman worldliness and 
paganism ; and Sepphoris, three and a half miles to the 
north of it, was a place of great importance. Acre, then 
called Ptolemais, was a very large Roman city on the 
west ; and Tiberias, another great centre of Herodian 
worldliness, lay on the lake shore to the east. It was 
truly in the midst of ' Galilee of the heathen nations ' — 
that is the genitive of character for ' heathen Galilee — 
and doubtless the corrupting influences of these foreign 
idolaters had reached this village and many another. 

Behind Nazareth rises a fine hill, Neby Sain, 
i, 600 feet high, from which a magnificent panorama 

1 Luke iv. 14-30. 



GALILEE 247 



appears. Looking westward, one can see the whole 
range of Carmel, and, like a line of silver light, ' the 
Great Sea.' On the south most of the plain of 
Esdraelon is in view, with purple mountains closing it 
in on all sides. Towards the east, over the hills, the 
chasm where lies the lake of Galilee can be seen, and 
the mountains of the Hauran beyond. Turning to the 
north we look down into a wide valley just beneath, 
where are the ruins of Seffurieh, three and a half miles 
away, the Sepphoris of Josephus, who tells us it was 
in his day (about forty years after Christ) ' the greatest 
city of all Galilee.' 1 Over a sea of hills still farther 
there stands out the town of Safed, one of the four holy 
cities of the Jews in Palestine, perched like an eagle's nest 
on the brow of a hill some 2,750 feet high, twenty-five 
miles away, and behind it, some thirty miles farther, 
the clear-cut, dazzlingly white peak of Hermon. How 
often, from childhood upward, must the Saviour have 
climbed this hill, and gazed with delight on the mag- 
nificent panoramic view ! It is supposed that Safed, 
which is seen from far in so many directions, was the 
place present to His mind when the Master said, 1 A 
city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden,' to enforce 
the need of His followers confessing Him openly, and 
letting men see in their lives those ' good works ' which 
are the fruits of a living faith. 2 

1 The Life of Flavins Josephus , sec. 45. 2 Matt. v. 14-16. 



2 4 8 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



The value of the sites of the Virgin Mary's house, 
Joseph's workshop, &c, shown here by the monks, may 
be gauged by the fact that they gravely assure you that 
the ' holy house ' ' split in two, when the outer room 
went off on its protracted travels, before resting finally 
on the wooded hill-top of Loretto,' a town of Central 
Italy ! Turning from these fables, there is one spot 
that must be genuine — the spring at the foot of the hilL 
called ' the Virgin's Fountain,' and there Mary must 
have daily come, sometimes, no doubt, accompanied, in 
His early youth, by her firstborn son, and afterwards 
by others of her children, to draw water, for this hard 
work falls to the lot of all village women. 

Two places in the neighbourhood claim to be the 
Cana of Galilee where Nathanael lived, and where at 
the marriao-e-feast our Lord turned the water into wine. 1 
One of these is a ruin, Khurbet Kanah, eight miles 
north of Nazareth, and the other is Kefr Kenna, an 
inhabited village not quite four miles to the north-east. 
Of these two Kefr Kenna is preferable. But Colonel 
Conder thinks that the little village of Reineh, only 
a mile and a half from Nazareth, where there is a fine 
spring called 'Ain Kanah, ' spelt as the Greek leads us 
to suppose the Hebrew form of Cana must have been,' 
is a closer preservation of the name than is afforded 
by Kefr Kenna. 

1 John i. 45-51, ii. 1-12, xxi. 2. 



GALILEE 



249 



Safed, which is some twenty-six miles north or 
Nazareth, has no scriptural mention, being chiefly 
interesting for its fine and commanding situation, and 
the sanctity in which it is held by the Jews, who for 
long made both this town and Tiberias famous seats of 




NAZARETH. 



Talmudic learning. It is subject, in common with this 
part of Galilee, to earthquakes, to which indeed the 
whole of Palestine is subject every year. 1 But all across 

1 In keeping with this, observe how frequent and graphic are the 
allusions to earthquakes in Scripture. See Exod. xix. 18; 1 Sam. 
xiv. 15 ; 2 Sam. xxii. 8 ; 1 Kings xix. 11 ; Ps. xxix. 8, lxviii. 8, lxxvii. 18, 



RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



Galilee, at long intervals, the seismic commotions are 
of a terrible character. The last of these was in 1837, 
and it extended from Tyre and Sidon across the land 
to Tiberias. Dr. Thomson says, ' They give point and 
emphasis to the most alarming threatenings of divine 
indignation, and, so far as my knowledge goes, they 
are in this land of heavy stone houses [the Palestine 
central districts] by far the most awful of all. Before 
them the very " knees of terror quake." When He 
" arises to shake terribly the earth," 1 all hearts fail, all 
faces gather blackness. Courage is of no avail ; the boldest 
fly, just as the feeble and timid do.' On January i, 
all Safed was thrown down, and being built in 
terraces, one above another, the destruction of life was 
terrible. Mr. Micklasiewitz, the Austrian Consul at 
Safed, told Mr. Neil in 1872 that, according to Jewish 
and Mohammedan records, such an earthquake had 
happened three times running, at an interval of exactly 
seventy years. Should this be a cycle, the next of such 
earthquakes would be due in 1907. 

On the foothills of the mountains of Naphtali, four 
miles north-west of Lake Merom, is the village of 
Kudes, or Kades, which has extensive ruins, and is 

cxiv. 4-8, Isa. xiii. 13, xxiv. 18, xxix. 6; Amos i. 1; Zech. xiv. 5; 
Matt. xxiv. 7, xxvii. 54, xxviii. 2 ; Luke xxi. n ; Acts xvi. 26 ; Rev. vi. 12, 
viii. 5, xi. 13, 19, xvi. 18. 
1 Isa. ii. 19, 21. 



JOPPA TO BEYROUT 251 

generally believed to be the third northern city of refuge 
on the west of Jordan, ' Kedesh in Galilee.' 1 It was 
an ancient city of the Canaanites, 2 and is mentioned in 
the list of Thothmes III. of Egypt, who conquered 
Palestine about 1600 B.C. Afterwards Barak appears to 
have lived there, and it was to this town Deborah and 
Barak called together the tribe of Naphtali ' to the 
help of Jehovah against the mighty ' — the Canaanite 
forces under Sisera. Kedesh and its neighbourhood is 
now far from healthy. 

Some places of chief importance on the sea coast 
north of Joppa remain to be noticed. First of these is 
Caesarea. Here are magnificent ruins ' lying low among 
the broad dunes of rolling, drifted sand.' This is one 
of the cities built by Herod in 13 B.C., for Samaria, 
Ascalon, and Antipatris (this last at Ras el 'Ain) 
attest the splendour of the work of Herod the Great 
as a builder, though so little remains now save 
scattered fragments. There was a port here in shape 
like that of the Piraeus in Greece. A theatre can 
still be traced that could hold 20,000 people, and a 
hippodrome, or, as we should call it, a circus, 1,000 
feet long. The base of granite on which the goal- 
post rested is a single block of red granite 34 feet 
long! How such blocks were moved in those days it 

1 Joshua xx. 7 5 xxi. 32 ; 1 Chron. vi. 76. 

2 Josh. xii. 22. 



2 52 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



is difficult to imagine, and this stone must have been 
brought by sea from Egypt from the quarries of Syene, 
600 miles up the Nile. The wall of the Roman 
town can be traced, and includes an area of about 400 
acres. An aqueduct that brought water to the city 
from springs eight miles away on the Carmel hills, 
evidently of Roman origin, Colonel Conder calls ' perhaps 
the finest engineering work in the country.' There is 
a second aqueduct, which brought water from a pool 
formed by part of the river Zerka being dammed up. 
This river, three miles north of these ruins, is known 
as the Crocodile River. Strabo and Pliny give it this 
name, and Colonel Conder says, ' In it the crocodile still 
exists, being, according to general native evidence, 
unknown in any other stream in Palestine.' It is a 
deep, perennial stream, full of papyrus, but not the 
same species as that which grows on the Nile. This 
is Papyrus syriacus, and the huge umbel which forms 
its flower falls all around like an umbrella, whilst the 
Nile species, Cyperus papyrus or Papyrus antiquormn, 
has an umbel falling to one side like a plume. 
Caesarea is surrounded by yellow marigolds, and Colonel 
Conder observes that ancient ruins in Palestine are in 
spring easily distinguished by the growth of this 
plant and of the marsh mallow. Caesarea was con- 
sidered, after the fall of Jerusalem, as the capital of 
Palestine. 



JOPPA TO BEYROUT 



Caesarea to 
all Gentile be- 
lievers will ever 
be of deepest 
interest, because 
here the first of 
a non - Israelit- 
ish race was 
made a member 
of the Church, 
that devout 
Roman captain 
(for a 'centurion' 
answers to our 
captain's grade) 
Cornelius, an 
officer of the 
Italian cohort. 1 
Upon him, first 
of alltheheathen, 

the Holy Spirit came, and in his admission to the 
Church of Christ ' the middle wall of partition ' was 
formally broken down, and it was made plain to the 
wondering Jewish beholders that ' to the Gentiles also 
hath God granted repentance unto life.' 

Next in importance is the fact that the Apostle 
1 Acts x. 1-4S. 




THE HILL COUNTRY. 



254 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



Paul was brought down here to escape the Jewish 
conspiracy against his life, coming by night under a 
strong escort by way of Antipatris (now Ras el 'Ain), 
on the plain of Sharon at the foot of the mountains, 
at a spot where the river Aujeh springs up a full-born 
stream. 1 Here he was tried before Felix — the prisoner 
calm, but the judge trembling. 2 Here, after languishing 
two years in prison, the great Apostle of the Gentiles, 
when brought up before the new governor, Festus, 
and that wicked couple, King Agrippa and his sister 
Bernice, gave a faithful witness, and, appealing to 
Caesar, was sent to Rome. 3 An adventurous voyage 
it was, on that stormy Mediterranean Sea, when he 
and those with him had such a terrible fortnight's 
experience, and were so wonderfully saved from death 
and enabled to land at Malta. 4 It was at Caesarea that 
Philip the deacon lived with his four daughters. 5 Here, 
too, in the theatre, which held, as we have seen, twenty 
thousand spectators, Herod Agrippa appeared before the 
people in royal apparel. Josephus says, ' He put on 
a garment made wholly of silver, and of wonderful 
contexture, and early in the morning came into the 
theatre, at which time the silver of his garment, being 
illuminated by the first reflection of the sun's rays 

1 Acts xxiii. 12-35. 3 Acts xxv. and xxvi. 

2 Acts xxiv. 4 Acts xxvii. 

5 Acts xxi. 8, 9. 



JOPPA TO BEYROUT 255 

upon it, shone after a surprising manner, and was so 
resplendent as to spread a horror over those that looked 
intently on him.' 1 When he made an oration to them, 
the flatterers cried out, ' It is the voice of a god, and 
not of a man ' ; and because he basely accepted this mad 




THE COAST OF PALESTINE. 

homage, and ' gave not God the glory,' he was ' eaten by 
worms,' and died 2 — Josephus says, five days afterwards. 

Passing the ruins of Tanturah, the Dor of the 
Bible, an ancient city of the Canaanites, 3 we come to 

1 Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Bk. XIX.. ch. viii. sec. 2. 

2 Acts xii. 20-4. 

3 Joshua xi. 2, xii. 23, xvii. 11 ; Judges i. 27. 



256 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



Athlit, six or seven miles to the north of it, a 
great fortress of the Templars, and a landing-place of 
crusaders and pilgrims. Going north, we reach the 
spot where the foot of Carmel rests on the sea ; and 
rounding the picturesque bluff, we enter the bay of 
Acre. At the south end, that at which we enter it, 
nestling at the foot of Carmel, and entirely protected 
by it from west and south winds, lies the town of 
Haifa. For the first and only time along this straight, 
unindented shore we now look upon a fine bay and 
harbour of refuge, the only one in all Palestine. This 
is undoubtedly the ' sea side ' and the ' sea coast ' of 
our version of the Old Testament. The Hebrew is 
hhoaph hayyam, 'haven of the sea' It is the technical 
term used of a special district in at least four places 
out of the six where it occurs. 1 Zebulon was to dwell 
'at the haven of the sea.' 2 It is twice mentioned as 
a particular part of the Land of Promise. 3 It should 
in every instance have been translated ' the haven of 
the sea,' for this Hebrew word hhoaph is the origin 
of our word ' haven.' A glance at the map will show 
where this region was. In all the coast line of Pales- 
tine there is but one natural haven, harbour, or bay, 
and that is this bay of Acre, or, as it should be called, 
the bay of Haifa. This word Haifa is in Arabic the 

1 Gen. xlix. 13; Deut. i. 7 ; Joshua ix. 1 ; Judges v. 17. 

2 Gen. xlix. 13. 3 Deut. i. 7 ; Joshua ix. 1. 



JOPPA TO BEYROUT 257 



same as the Hebrew word hhoaph, coming from the 
same root, and means 'haven.' Haifa, at the south of 
the bay, and not Acre, at its northern end, is in the 
true harbour, the sheltered part of the bay, and pre- 
serves the technical Hebrew name, 'the haven of the 




TEMPLE OF THE SUN, BAALBEK 



sea.' This splendid inheritance, ' the key of Palestine,' 
as Napoleon well called it, fell to the tribe of Asher. 

Asher rested on the haven of the sea {hhoaph hayyam), 
And abode in his bays, 1 

1 Judges v. 17. 

•7 



258 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



when he should have rallied to the standard of Barak. 
The word ' bays ' here, in the plural, is a figure, ' the 
plural of majesty,' by which a noun which is intended 
to be understood in the singular is put in the plural to 
clothe it with force and emphasis. It generally adds 
to the singular noun the adjective ' great' or 'much.' 
' Bays ' in this verse obviously means ' great bay,' for 
Asher had only one bay, seeing there is not another 
in the whole country. 

Acre is mentioned only once in Scripture under the 
name Accho, as a city of Asher from which that tribe 
failed to drive out the inhabitants. 1 But it occurs again, 
under its Roman name of Ptolemais, as a place visited 
by Paul on a voyage from Tyre to Caesarea. 2 It was, 
as we have said, a great city in the days of Christ, an 
active centre of Roman paganism and worldliness. 

Tyre next claims our attention. It is on the coast, 
some twenty-five miles north of Acre. It is situated 
on a rocky peninsula formerly an island. In ancient 
times there was probably a part of the city on the 
mainland, and part on the island. That it was a very 
ancient city seems clear from Isaiah : 

Is this your joyous [ l yre], 

Whose antiquity is of ancient days ? 3 

The Canaanites of Phoenicia are called Sidonians, and 



1 Judges i. 31. 



2 Acts xxi. 7. 



Isa. xxiii. 7. 



JOPPA TO BEYROUT 259 

these no doubt include inhabitants of Tyre 1 as well 
as of Sidon, less than twenty miles to the north of 
it. The first mention of it in the Bible is where it is 
spoken of as one of the boundaries of Asher, ' the 
strong city of Tyre.' 2 With this powerful and intelli- 




LARGEST WORKED STONE IN THE WORLD, IN THE QUARRY AT 
BAALBEK : 68 FT. LONG, I4 FT. HIGH, AND 13 FT. 8 IN. WIDE 



gent Sidonian, or Phoenician, people Israel seems from 
the first to have dwelt at peace. David sent to Tyre 
to take a census of the Jews living there. 3 Hiram, 
King of Tyre, sent cedar wood and workmen to David 

1 Judges xviii. 7 ; Isa. xxiii. 2, 4, 12 ; Joshua xiii. 6; Ezek. xxxii. 30. 

2 Joshua xix. 29. 3 2 Sam. xxiv. 7. 



26o RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



for his palace, 1 and afterwards to Solomon for the 
building of the Temple. 2 Under Solomon there seems 
to have been a close alliance between the Hebrews 
and Tyrians. The 27th chapter of Ezekiel, it has 
been well said, ' furnishes us, on some points, with 
details such as have scarcely come down to us respecting 
any one city of antiquity, excepting Rome and Athens.' 
Its splendid and extensive trade thus depicted by 
Ezekiel, and its resulting great wealth, attracted Nebu- 
chadnezzar, who, after capturing Jerusalem, besieged 
Tyre. The siege lasted thirteen years, and ended in 
the capitulation of the city. Ezekiel had declared of the 
fate of Tyre, ' They shall break down thy walls, and 
destroy thy pleasant houses : and they shall lay thy 
stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the 
water. . . . And thou shalt be no more : though thou be 
sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith 
the Lord God.' 3 Two things are here specially 
threatened : first, that the stones and timber of old 
Tyre should be cast into the sea ; and secondly, that 
the old city should be so destroyed that no trace of it 
should be left. Now, when the old city surrendered to 
Nebuchadnezzar, it was not until all their treasures had 
been removed, in their ships, to the island in front of 
the city, half a mile from the shore, and there they 
built a new Tyre. This so enraged Nebuchadnezzar, 
1 2 Sam. v. 11. 2 1 Kings v. 3 Ezek. xxvi. 12, 21. 



JOPPA TO BEYROUT 261 



who had no ships to reach the island, that he ' broke 
down the walls and destroyed the pleasant houses,' and 
left the old city a complete ruin. 

But after the destruction of the city on the mainland, 
the island city became rich and great. Some 260 years 
later, in 332 B.C., Alexander the Great came against it. 
He had no fleet to reach the island, so, by setting all 
his army to work, he built a causeway over the half-mile 
of sea that separated it from the shore. This great 
mole he constructed by casting all the ruins of old Tyre 
into the sea. Thus was the first part of Ezekiel's 
prophecy fulfilled — ' Thy stones and thy timber shall be 
laid in the midst of the water.' This was done to such 
an extent that nothing was left of the old and once 
glorious city. So the second part of the prophecy 
was just as completely fulfilled, and has remained 
fulfilled to this day — ' Thou shalt be no more : 
though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be 
found again.' There is yet another prophecy about this 
new Tyre that was founded on the island which has 
also come to pass. When this island city was at the 
height of its prosperity, full of wealth and of people, 
God said He would make it ' like the top of a rock, 
a place to spread nets upon.' 1 This prophecy has 
been fulfilled as exactly as the other. For long years 
past the island of Tyre has been nothing but a miserable 

1 Ezek. xxvi. 14. 



262 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



fishing-village. Where its proud palaces once stood, it 
is now desolate and bare, ' like the top of a rock.' 

Zidon, or, as its Greek name is, Sidon, means in 
Hebrew ' fishing,' or 'fishery.' We are told much less 
about it than we are told about Tyre, though in early 




RUINS OF TEMPLE OF THE SUN AT BAALBEK, SHOWING AN 
ENORMOUS STONE 



times it was the more important city of the two. Zidon 
was the firstborn of Canaan. 1 It is twice called ' Great 
Zidon,' which seems to mean ' the [ metropolis Zidon.' 2 



1 Gen. x. 15. 



2 Joshua xi. 8 ; xix. 28, 



JOPPA TO BEYROUT 



263 



'Zidonians' is the generic name of all Phoenicians. 1 
Laish is said to have been helpless because ' it was far 
from Zidon.' 2 Now, Tyre was twenty miles nearer than 
Zidon, and, if it had been of equal importance with 
Zidon, would naturally have been mentioned instead. 
But afterwards it appears to have been subordinate to 
Tyre. It is a fine town now, and therefore has not 
fallen so low as its rival, for that rivals they were we 
learn from Strabo, who says that in his time 1 which 
should be called the capital of Phoenicia is a matter of 
dispute between the inhabitants.' ' The borders of Tyre 
and Sidon ' were the only Gentile regions our Saviour 
ever seems to have entered, and there He was only on 
their 'borders.' 3 Their ruin pointed His solemn warning 
to the cities where most of His mighty works had been 
done. 4 

Zarephath, called by Christ by its Greek form 
Sarepta, appears to be on the coast, eight miles south 
of Sidon, at the modern village of Surafend. Elijah, 
during the latter part of the awful three and a half years' 
drought, resided there, and performed two notable 
miracles, 5 to which our blessed Lord alludes. 6 

1 Joshua xiii. 6 : Judges xviii. 7. 

2 Judges xviii. 28. 

3 Matt. xv. 21 ; Mark vii. 24. 

4 Matt. xi. 21-2 ; Luke x. 13-4. 

5 1 Kings xvii. 8-24. 

6 Luke iv. 26, 



264 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



Beyrout is a great modern city finely situated at the 
south of a noble bay, at the foot of the range of Lebanon 
that towers above it ; but it is doubtful if it is mentioned 
in the Bible, though some have thought it is the 
Berothah of Ezek. xlvii. 16, and the Berothai of 
2 Sam. viii. 8. It was known to the Romans as 
Berytus. The modern city has been called ' the Paris 
of the Levant ' ; it has a population of probably 80,000 
souls. 

Up till 1875 the only road in Syria fit for wheeled 
vehicles was the French coach road from Beyrout to 
Damascus, crossing Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon. Be- 
tween these two parallel ranges runs the great valley 
of Coelo-Syria, the Bukei'a of the natives. It is a 
magnificently fertile and highly cultivated region. 
Colonel Conder speaks of it as affording ' one of the 
finest views in Syria.' The Litany river, or Kasimeyeh, 
of the Arabs, the Leontes of the ancients, runs from 
north to south down the centre of the plain, and then 
cuts its way at right angles round the south of Lebanon, 
through a magnificent gorge, and, after flowing some 
twenty miles west, enters the Mediterranean about six 
miles north of Tyre. The mountain ranges on either 
side — Lebanon on the west and Anti-Lebanon on the 
east — for a part of the year are covered on the higher 
slopes with snow, hence the name Lebanon, from leben, 
' snow-white milk.' The termination ' on ' or 'un' in 



LEBANON 265 

Hebrew is intensive, so Lebanon means 1 the very milk- 
white mountain.' Some thirty-five miles up the valley 
from the coach road to Damascus lie the truly mag- 
nificent ruins of Baalbek. There is a little town here 
embowered in a paradise of trees amongst which poplars 



BSCHERREH. NEAREST TOWN TO THE CEDARS OF LEBANON 

are conspicuous. The temple of Jupiter or the Sun is 
marked by six columns 75 feet high and *]\ feet in 
diameter, with rich tracery in roof and cornice, of that 
striking orange, rusty colour which the stone in Palestine 
assumes in weathering, on the side from which the winter 
storms come, the west and south-west. There is a 



266 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



smaller temple of Jupiter to the south. The greatest 
marvel of Baalbek, however, is the western fortress 
wall, consisting of stones with the ancient draft 15 to 
20 feet long. The third course from the ground is 
composed of three huge blocks, each more than 63 feet 
long ! But most marvellous of all is a fourth stone, 
cut, but still lying in the adjacent quarry, 68 feet long, 
13 feet 8 inches broad, and 14 feet high, 'along which 
three horsemen might ride abreast.' It is called by the 
Arabs ' the Pregnant Stone,' and it may safely claim to 
be the largest in the world. Colonel Conder calls this 
pagan shrine at Baalbek ' the mightiest temple ever 
built by Roman genius,' but the temple of the Sun at 
Palmyra was not far short of it. 

To visit the cedars of Lebanon a start is generally 
made from 'Ain Ata. Starting from this little village 
at the base of the eastern side of Lebanon, the journey 
has to be made on foot to the summit of the range, 
called by the Arabs Jebel Makmel, 8,500 feet above the 
plain, a six hours' climb, and then there is a descent 
of 2,500 feet on the western side to where the Grove 
of the Cedars is situated at an altitude of 6,300 feet. 
There are about nine large old trees and some 350 
others. One tree is 40 feet in circumference. These 
are the sole survivors of what must once have been 
vast forests. This tree was the largest of all the 
timber trees of Palestine, and hence became the Oriental 



LEBANON 



267 



picture of greatness and power. Ezekiel pictures the 
dreaded Assyrian as ' a cedar in Lebanon with fair 
branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an 
high stature, and his top among the thick boughs. . . . 
His height was exalted above all the trees of the field, 
and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became 
long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot 
forth. All the fowls of heaven made their nests in 
his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts 
of the field bring forth their young.' 1 Here are the 
sole survivors of those mighty groves that once made 
Lebanon famous, and the wood of which was brought 
in such vast quantities to Jerusalem. The whole of 
this fine range of mountain, which at its highest point 
reaches an altitude of 10,500 feet, affords magnificent 
views, and every variety of climate. The Arabs well 
say, ' Lebanon carries winter on its head, spring upon 
its shoulders, summer in its bosom, whilst autumn lies 
sleeping at its feet.' Doubtless this range and the 
opposing one of Anti-Lebanon together act as a 
great refrigerator to the land of Palestine that lies 
southward at their feet, owing to the great masses 
of snow that they bear on their summits for a con- 
siderable part of the year. In the East snow, preserved 
in compact masses, takes the place of ice amongst us, 
for cooling purposes in the hot season ; and it is much 

1 Ezek. xxxi. 3-6, 



268 RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 



safer than ice, because, coming from the condensed 
moisture in the skies, it is absolutely free from all 
impurities, which can seldom be the case with ice. 
Hence in the Bible snow is always mentioned where 
we should speak of ice. Jeremiah asks : 

Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon? 

Or shall the cold flowing waters be forsaken ? 1 

And the proverb tells us : 

As a vessel of snow in the time of harvest, 

So is a faithful messenger to them that send him. 2 

The Jordan has three sources, all derived from the 
snows of Anti-Lebanon. One of the longest branches 
is at Hasbany, a modern town of some importance, and 
down a charming gorge below it the stream flows to 
Lake Huleh. Tell el Kadi, ' the Mound of the Judge,' 
seems the site of Laish, afterwards called Dan; for Dan 
means 'judge. 5 Here water abounds on every hand, 
and one pool, some 150 feet across, is the outburst of 
the Jordan from the earth ; the second source, known 
as the Leddai, the largest of the three, twice as large 
as that at Banias, and three times as large as that at 
Hasbany. The third source is at Banias, the ancient 
Caesarea Philippi, which is situated two miles east of 

1 Jer. xviii. 14. 

2 Prov. xxv. 13. 



LEBANON 



269 



Dan, and 500 feet higher, at an altitude of 1,100 feet. 
This is a splendid situation. It has been well said, 
' Nothing can exceed the romantic beauty of Banias. 
High hills, clothed with trees and green crops, are 
mingled with great peaks or masses of naked rock 
and long stretches of sunny valleys glorious with 
verdure.' The park-like scenery, with so many magnifi- 
cent trees, has no rival in Syria. Here are the remains 
of a famous heathen sanctuary of the god Pan, and 
it is from this word Pan that we get the modern Arabic 
name Banias. Josephus says that the temple was of 
white marble, and the place was called Panium. 1 The 
cliff over the cave, from which rises 1 a stream of silver- 
clear water,' is about a hundred feet high. Here Herod 
built a temple in honour of his brother Philip, Tetrarch 
of Trachonitis, and he honoured Caesar, the Roman 
emperor, at the same time : hence he called the place 
Caesarea Philippi. The ruins of immense fortifications, 
in which a castle now stands, tower almost 1,500 feet 
above the ruins of the town, nearly a third of a mile 
long from east to west, built of huge stones with the 
well-known Jewish draft or bevel. 

Panium, or Banias, is at the foot of Mount Hermon. 
It was when ' Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea 
Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do 

1 Josephus's Wars of the Jews, Bk. I. ch. xxi. sec. 3. See also 
Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews, Bk. XV. ch. x. sec. 3. 



2 7 o RAMBLES IN BIBLE LANDS 

men say that I the Son of man am ? . . . And Simon 
Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the 
Son of the living God.' 1 It was here six days later 
'Jesus taketh with Him Peter, James, and John his 
brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart, 
and He was transfigured before them.' 2 Now, ' the 
high mountain ' must surely be the peak of Hermon, rising 
to a height of 9,150 feet just behind and above Banias. 
Colonel Conder well says, ' There is one remarkable 
natural peculiarity of Hermon — namely, the extreme 
rapidity of the formation of cloud on the summit. In 
a few minutes a thick cap forms over the top of the 
mountain, and as quickly disperses and entirely dis- 
appears. In the accounts of our Lord's Transfiguration, 
we read that whilst staying at Caesarea Philippi, He 
retired with His disciples to a " high mountain apart," 
and there can be but little doubt that some part of 
Hermon, and very probably the summit, is intended. 
From the earliest period the mountain has been a sacred 
place ; in later times it was covered with temples ; to 
the present day it is a place of retreat for the Druses. 
This lofty solitary peak seems wonderfully appropriate 
for the scene of so important an event ; and in this 
connexion the cloud-formation is most interesting;, if we 
remember the cloud which suddenly overshadowed the 

1 Matt. xvi. 13, 16 

2 Matt. xvii. 1-8. See also Mark ix. 2-13 ; Luke ix. 28-36. 




CEDARS OF LEBANON 



272 RAMBLES IN 

Apostles and as suddenly 
found " no man any more, 
selves." ' 1 



BIBLE LANDS 

cleared away, when they 
save Jesus only with them- 



1 Mark ix. 8. Colonel C. R. Conder's Tent Work in Palestine, 
fir.-t edition, Vol. i. pp. 265-6 (Messrs. Richard Bentley & Son). 



INDEX 





GENESIS 






PAGE 






PAGE 






PAGE 


XXXV. 


16-20 . 


. 104 


xiii. 


17 


174 


viii. 


3 


ZQ 
jy 


xxxvi. 


33 . • 


. 204 




22, 29 


173 




5 


■ 59 


XXXV11. 


<-> r -->S 
23-20 . 


• 234 




2 3> 24, 27 . 


I70 


X. 


t r 


262 


xli. 


6 


. I20 




33 • 


202 


xii. 


6 


. 227 


xliv. 


17 


. 69 


xiv. 


Q 

O ... 


I70 




Q 


17^ 


xlix 


T 3 


256 


xvi. 


13 • 


I/O 


xiii. 


I 


■ l 73 




t n 
l 7 


. 100 


xviii. 


20, 2 1 . 


35 




3 


• 173 








xxi. 


I 


T 7 7 




V-IO . 


. 190 




EXODUS 






20 


17 A 




IO— 1 2 


187, 191 










24 • 


205 


xiv. 


5 


163, 202 


111 


r 


t r 

1 i> 


xxiii. 


23 • 


68 




15 


• 199 




8 


. 170 




28 . . 


T 7/1 


XV. 


20 


. 163 




18 


. 207 


xxiv. 


7 


/l8 


xix. 


17, 25, 


28- 


p v. 


3 


. 207 


xxvii. 


14 


41 




29 • 


• 187 




6-8, 12 


. 221 


xxxii. 


i-5 • 


IQ7 


XX. 


1 


• 173 




19 


. 222 




9 


I70 


xxi. 


14, 21 . 


• 177 


vii. 


10-12 . 


. 106 


xxxiv. 


6, 7 . • 


42 




22-32 . 


• 177 


viii. 


27 


. 207 




11 


192 


xxiii. 


6 


. 68 


ix. 


28 


. 68 


XXXV. 


1-7 • 


34 


xxiv. 


3i 

62 


• 7o 
. 173 


xiii. 
xix. 


5 

18 


. 170 
. 249 




10-28 


227 


xxvi. 


6, 12 . 


• 59 


xxxii i. 


3 


. 170 


DEUTERONOMY 






23-33 • 


. 177 








i. 


7 


256 




29 • 


. 69 




LEVITICUS 






24, 25 


170 


xxvii. 


28 


. 87 


XX. 


24 . 


. 170 


ii. 


37 • 


205 


xxviii. 


10-22 . 


. 181 






iii. 


4, 10 . 201, 


203 


xxx. 


8 


. 68 










10 


203 




36 . 


. 207 




NUMBERS 






11 . 25, 


206 


xxxii., 


Kxxiii. . 


. 205 


X. 


33 


. 207 




16 . 


205 


xxxiv. 




. 227 


xi. 


3i 

273 


. 207 


vi. 


3 

18 


170 



274 







PAGE 


viii. 




. I04 


xi. 


10 


. 50 




29, 3o 


. 226 


xii. 


2, 3 • 


. 214 


xix. 


1-1.3 


. 227 


XXV. 


4 


. 219 


xxvii. 


1 1-26 


. 226 


xxxii. 


12 


. 70 




13 


. I70 




33 


• io 5 




48-52 


. 190 




5i 


• 4i 


xxxiii. 


13 


• 87 


xxxiv. 


1-4 


. 190 




3 


163, 187 




5,6 


. 190 




JOSHUA 


i. 


4 


• 42 


vii. 


2 


. 181 




24-26 


• 187 


vii., viii. 24, 


25-29 181 


viii. 


33 


• 131 




3o-35 


. 226 


ix. 




. 184 




1 


42, 256 




3 


. 181 




3-i8 


. 208 




20-27 


. 209 


x. 


1, 2 


. 181 




2 


. 184 




12 


185, 186 




33 


. 109 




40 


58, 173 




4i 


• 58 


xi. 


2 


• 255 




5, 7 


0: . 191 




8 


■ 163, 262 




16 . 


58, 173 




17 


. 163 



INDEX 







PAGE 


xii. 


3 


. 192 




5 


. 203 




7 


. I63 




7-i5 • 
8 


• 174 

• 173 




9 


. l8l 




12 ... 


. IO9 




22 


. 251 




23 • 


• 255 


xiii. 


3 


- O 
• 58 







259, 263 




25 


. 206 




27 


. 192 


XV. 


9 


. 112 




10 


. 112 




24 • 


• 174 




33 • 


. 112 




33-35- 


• 174 




44 • 


. 174 


xvii. 


1 1 


• 255 


xviii. 


12 


. Iol 




15 • 


. 112 


xix. 


17-23 . 


• 236 




21 


. 236 




22 


• 243 




28 


. 262 




29 . 


. 259 




41 


. 112 




46 


41, 56 


XX. 


1-9 . 


. 227 




7 


• 251 


xxi. 


1-42 . 


• 34 




17 • 


. 182 




20-2 1 . 


. 109 




29 . 


. 236 




32 • 


• 251 


xxiii. 


4 


• 42 


xxiv. 


1-28 . 


. 226 




12 


. 201 


XXV. 


4 


. 219 



JUDGES 







PAGE 


1. 


Q 
O 


. I 16 




9 


• 173 




11,12 


• 174 




19 


• 59 




27 


• 2 55 




3i 


. 25O 


iv. 


1-16 . 


• 244 




2-13 . 


■ 237 




16 . 


. 238 


v. 


17 60, 


256, 257 




20, 21 


. 238 


vi. 


3-5 • 


. 241 




36-40. 


• 92 


., viii. 


. 241 


xiii. 


25 • 


. 112 


xiv. 


1, 5, 7- 


■ 63 


XV. 


4 


02 




8 


• 64 




9-17 . 


. 64 




13 • 


• 64 


xvi. 


4 


. 112 




21 


. 119 




21-23 


DO 




31 • 


. 112 


xviii. 


2, 8, 11 


. 112 




7 


259, 263 




27, 28 


. 58 




28 . 


. 263 


XX. 


1 


. 177 


xxi. 


19 • 


. 210 




19-23 


. 211 




RUTH. 




ii 


4 


. 70 




I SAMUEL 


ii. 


4 


• 14 




8 


153, 154 



INDEX 



275 









iii. 


20 


177 


v 


T 1 
1, ^ 


60 


VI 


1 2 


°3 




20 — Vll 2 


1 10 


vii. 


3— I A 






26 


l82 




/i 

4 


l82 




A— 1 1 


2AI 


xii . 


16— 19 


l8 


xiii. 


c 
J 


l8l 


xiv. 


1—23 


184 




4 


l8^ 




I C 


2AQ 




2 3 
J 


l8l 


xvii. 


s2 


6^ 




4 34 • 


202 


XXI 1. 


T 2 6ii 


174, l86 




r 
j 


I7A 




6 


l82 


xxiii. 


1— 1 ^ 


I 74 176 






IQ 




24, 28 


174, I76 


XXV. 


2. 


. I7O 




2-8 . 


. 176 


XXVI. 


i-3 • 


174, 




2 


• 174 


xxviii. 


5-24 . 


• 243 


xxxi. 




. 240 




11-13. 


. 242 




2 SAMUEL 


111 . 


IO 




V. 


6-8 . 


. 124 




11 


. 260 




17-25 . 


• 163 




25 


. 182 


vi. 


10, 1 1 . 


• 58 


viii. 


8 . 


. 264 


xi. 


1 


. 206 



PAGE 



xii. 


26, 27, 29 . 


206 


XV. 


18, 19, 20 . 


58 




23 


139 


xvii. 


11 


177 


xviii. 


2 


58 




18 


142 


xxi. 


16 


202 




18 


202 




19 


S8 




20 


202 


xxii. 


8 


249 


xxiii. 


13 


174 




15,16. 


169 


xxiv. 


7 


259 








ii. 


37 


139 


iv. 


13 • • 


200 


v. 




260 


vii. 


26 


100 


viii. 


29, 30, 35, 






38, 41, 44, 






48. . . 


152 


ix. 


17, 18. 


199 


xi. 


29 


210 




36 . . 


178 


xii. 


11 


104 




29-33 • 


811 


xiii. 


1-32 • 


181 


XV. 


13 


139 




22 


182 


xvi. 


2 


154 




24 


231 




32 v 


231 


xvii. 


8-24 . 


263 


xviii. 


43,44. 


42 




44, 45 • ' • 


120 


xix. 


4 


207 




6 


3o 



PAGE 

xix. 11. . . 249 

xx. 1-34 . , .: 231 
xxi. . ... 240 

23 . .240 



2 KINGS 





8 


3d 


iv. 


18-37. 


242 


v. 


12 


197 




19 • 


69 


vi. 


24 • • 


231 


vii. 


20 


231 


viii. 


1-6 . 


242 




2 


62 


ix. 


16-27 . 


241 




30-37 • 


240 


xvii. 


3-23, 33 • 


232 


xxiii. 


4, 6, 12 


139 


XXV. 


7 
/ 


I T Q 


I 


CHRONICLES 




i. 


44 • . . ■ 


204 


ii. 


52 


112 




53 


112 


v. 


11 


203 


vi. 


76 . . 


25I 


ix. 


2 


209 


xi. 


15 . 


174 


xiii. 


5-14 • - • 


no 




13 


58 


XX. 


4 


202 




5 • 58, 


202 


2 


CHRONICLES 




i. 


4 


I IO 


iv. 


5 


100 


vii. 


1, 2 . 


152 


viii. 


4 


199 



276 



INDEX 



PAGE 

x. 14 . 104 

xi. 5-7 . .174 

xv. 16 . . 139 
xx. 7 . . 172 

xxiv. 20 . . 142 

xxix. 16 . .139 

xxx. 14 . . 139 
xxxii. 30 . .160 
xxxv. 22 . .163 

EZRA 

ii. 43, 58, 70 . 209 

vii. 7, 24 . . 209 

NEHEMIAH 

i. 3 • • ii9 

ii. 3, 13, 17 . 119 

iii. 26 . . 209 

vi. 2 . . 163 
xi. 21 . . 209 

ESTHER 

iv. 1 1— 16 . .51 

V. 6 . . 212 

vii. 2 . . 212 

JOB 

i. 6 . .68 

x. 9 . . 154 

xvi. 15 . .154 

xvii. 13 . .54 
xx. 14-16 . . 105 
xxi. 18 . . 220 

xxvii. 21 . 90, 120 

xxxvii. 9, 17 . .120 

xxxviii. 8 . .168 
xxxix. 15 . . 219 

xli. 30 . -54 

xlii. 6 . .154 





PSALMS 








PAGE 


i. 


3 


50 


v. 


8 


70 


vii. 


5 • 


154 


xxii. 


12 


202 


XXV. 


5 ■ 


70 


xxvii. 


11 


70 


xxix. 


"? 
j 


IO0 




8 


240 


xxxvi. 


6 


68 


xlviii. 


2 


122 




2 A. C 12. 






I 3, 14. 


128 


lviii. 


4, 5 


105 


lix. 


6 


34 


lxviii. 


8 


2 40 


lxxvii. 


18 


24.0 


lxxviii. 


60 


212 


lxxx. 


10 . • 


68 


lxxxi. 


16 . 


I70 


lxxxix. 


12 


— r J 


xci. 


13 


I05 


xcii. 


12 


100 


civ. 


16 . 


100 


cvii. 


16 


119 


ex. 




02 


cxiii. 


7 1 53s 


I 54 


cxiv. 


4-8 . . . 


2sO 
j 


cxvi. 


6 


98 


exxi. 


1 


I ^ I 




1— ^ 


08 


exxi.- 


exxxiv. 


151 


exxv. 


1 


128 


exxvii. 


3 


69 


exxix. 


6-8 . 


71 


exxx. 


6 


97 


exxxiii. 


3 


9i 


cxlvi. 


9 


98 


cxlvii. 


13 • 


118 



PROVERBS 







PAGE 


iii. 


20 


87 


xix. 


12 


88 


XXV. 


11 . 5 


1, 55 




13 • 


268 




23 • 


120 


xxxi. 


17 • 


14 


ECCLESIASTES 




XI. 


7 - - • 


180 




OF SOLOMON 


i. 


I A 


100 


ii. 


I 


102 




J J 


1, ^2 




D 


^2 




l6 


IOO 


iv. 




I OO 


v. 


-7 


02 




IO 


102 




13 • 


IOO 


vi. 


2, 3 • 


IOO 


vii. 


2 


IOO 




8 


51 




ISAIAH 




ii. 


13 • 


202 




19-21. 


250 


viii. 


18 . 


69 


xi. 


8 


IO5 


xiii. 


13 • • 


250 


XV. 


1 


204 


xxi. 


1 


I20 


xxiii. 


2, 4, 12 


259 




7 


258 


xxiv. 


18 . 


250 


xxvi. 


19 . 


154 


cxviii. 


27 • 


216 


xxix. 


6 


250 



INDEX 



277 









XXXIV. 


6 


204 


xliii. 


1 


204 


xli. 


15 • 


• 215 


xlv. 


2 


. 119 


xlvii. 


1 


• 154 


xlix. 


10 


• 7o 


lii. 


2 


. 154 


lviii. 


1 1 


• 48 


lxii. 


10, 11. 


. 82 


lxiii. 




. 204 


JEREMIAH 




vii. 


12 


. 212 


viii. 


20 


. 18 




22 


. 23; 
• jj 


xi. 


5 


. 170 


xii. 


5 


. 196 


xviii. 


14 • 


. 268 




17 


00 


xxi. 


13 • 


• 123 


xxiii. 


28 . 


. 220 


xxxi. 


9 


• 70 




12 


• 48 




15 • 


. I64 




40 . 


• 139 


xxxii. 


22 


. I70 


xlvi. 


18 . 


• 243 


xlix. 


2, 3 • 


. 205 



II 

13, 22 

19 
I. 44 



70 
204 
I96 
I96 



LAMENTATIONS 

iv. 5 .153 



EZEKIEL 



IV. 15 
xvi. 4 



. 29 
. 168 



XVII. 10 

xix. 1 2 

xx. 6, 1 5 

xxi. 20 

xxv. 5 

xxvi. 12, 21 

14 

xxvii. 6 

17 
18 

xxxi. 3-6 
xxxii. 30 
xxxix. 18 

xlvii. 16, 18 
16 



PAGE 

90, I20 

90, I20 

. I70 

. 206 

. 206 

. 260 

. 26l 

. 202 

. IOO 

. IOO 

. 267 

. 259 

. 202 
. 202 
. 264 



JONAH 



DANIEL 



111. 25 
vi. IO 
vii. 23 



HOSEA 



iv. 15 

V. I 

8 

vi. 4 
x. 15 

xiii. 3 

15 

xiv. 5 



AMOS 



1. I 

5 

12 
iv. 1 



68 
152 
219 



181 

244 
181 

9i 
181 

9i 
90 

i, 92 



250 
163 
204 
202 



i- i-3 
in. 3 
3, 4 



MICAH 



PAGE 
• 64 

. 68 
. 207 



204 



11. 12 
v. 7 



ZEPH ANIAH 

ii. 5 . . 60 



ZECHARIAH 



VI. I 

ix. 14 



Xll. 



3 

12, 1 
1 1 



xin. 4 
xiv. 4 
5 



163 



111 



MATTHEW 

i. 18 . 
ii. 11 
16-18 
3 
4 

14-16 
22, 29 
35 ■ 



119 
120 
202 
196 
138 
240 

35 
148 
250 



I MACCABEES 

X. 84 . 60 



76 
165 
164 

70 

34 
247 
138 
148 



"278 



INDEX 







PAGE 


V. 


39-42 


36 


V.- 


-vii. 


36 


vi. 


28, 29 


101 


- vii. 


2 


158 


viii. 


2, 3 • 


156 




32 • 


194 


x. 


28 . 


138 




42 . 


1 1 1 


xi. 


21, 22 


263 




21 


193 


xiii. 


38 . . 


220 


xiv. 


3-12 . 


211 


XV. 


21 


263 


xvi. 


13, 16 


270 


xvii. 


1-8 . 


270 


xviii. 


9 


138 


xxii. 


12 


32 


xxiii. 


1 5? 33 


138 




35 • 


142 


xxiv. 


7 


250 


XXVI 




141 


xxvii . 


3-10 . 


138 




54 


250 


xxviii. 


2 


250 




MARK 




i. 


40, 41. 


156 


ii. 


4 


166 


iv. 


24 


158 


v. 


13 • 


194 


vi. 


21-29. 


21 I 


vii. 


24 


263 




27 


85 


ix. 


2-13 . 


270 




43, 44, 45, 






46, 47 48 


138 


x. 


46 . . 


154 


xiv. 


32 • 


141 



LUKE 







PAGE 


ii. 


44 


208 


iii. 


1 


20I 




3 


232 


iv. 


14-30 • 


246 




26 


263 


v. 


12,13. 


156 


vi. 


38 • 


158 


vii. 


11-17. 


242 


viii. 


33 


194 


ix. 


28-36. 


270 


X. 


13,14. 


263 




13 


193 




19 • 


I04 




30-37. 186 


230 


xi. 


12 


I04 




47,48. 


144 


xii. 


27 


IOI 




35,36. 


14 




54 • . • 


120 




55 • 90 


120 


xiv. 


26 


J/ 


xvi. 


20-25 • 


154 


xvii. 


I2-IQ . 


2 30 


xxi. 


II 


250 




20 


Il8 


xxii. 


36 • • 


94 


xxiv. 


13 • 


109 




33 • 


109 








i. 


4 


52 




28, 29, 35 . 


196 




45-51 ■ 


248 


ii. 


1, 2 


196 




1-12 . 


248 


iii. 


23 


233 


iv. 


5 


224 




5-3o . 


223 



PAGE 



IV. 


9 


230 




10, 11 . 


224 




20-24 • 


228 


V. 


2 


160 


vi. 


27 


37 


ix. 


8,9 •' 


154 


X. 


10 


52 


xi. 


5,35, 39 


162 




18 . 


160 




25 • 


52 




25, 26. 


163 


xiv. 


: 3, T 4- 


152 


xvi. 


23 • 


152 


xviii. 




140 




2 


141 




1 1 


76 




18 


29 


xxi. 




248 




9 


30 




ACTS 




i. 


18, I 9 


138 


iv. 


27, 30- 


76 


ix. 


3-6 • 


200 




32 • 


75 




33-35 


78 




36-42 


64 




43 • 


64 


X. 


1-48 . 65 


, 253 




6 


65 


xii. 


20-24 


255 


xiv. 


22 


218 


xvi. 


26 . 


250 


xxi. 


8, 9 • ■ 


254 




7 


258 


xxiii. 


12-35 


254 


xxiv. 




254 


xxv., xxvi. 


254 


xxvii. 




254 



INDEX 



279 



ROMANS 

PAGE 

i. 6, 7 . .75 

1 CORINTHIANS 

ix. 9 . . 219 
xvi. 11 . -69 

2 CORINTHIANS 

vi. 14-16 . 45 
17, 18 . 45 

vii. 10 . . 218 



I TIMOTHY 

PAGE 

v. 18 . 219 

TITUS 
ii. 13, 14 . 45 

HEBREWS 

n. 13 • .69 
xii. 13 . 70 

JAMES 

ii. 16 . .69 



I PETER 

PAGE 

i. 13 • • 14 

ii. 9 . .44 

iii. 8 . 56 

REVELATIONS 

iv. 8 . . 76 
vi. 12 . . 250 

viii. 5 . .250 

ix. 5, 10 . . 104 

xi. 13, 19 . 250 

xvi. 18 . . 250 

xxi. 25 . .119 



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